The Hammer and the Rings
by AzureSpider
Summary: I know this has been done before, but nevertheless, here is a Halo/Warhammer 40k Fusion Fic. The Covenant pledge themselves to the Four Powers, and humanity and the Eldar enter a tense and uneasy alliance to stop them, waging war throughout the galaxy. Rated T for reasons I think are easy enough to figure out. May be rated M later.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: This is the prologue and set-up for my Warhammer 40k/Halo fusion fic. I hope you all enjoy it.  
**

Prologue

The Elder One screamed.

It was a silent scream, at least to the ears of all who dwelled in the galaxy. And even if it was an audible scream, not even the scream of a supreme being could possibly be heard over the collective cries of pain of a universe consumed by agony and death. Death. Death was everywhere, and after so many eons it had driven the Elder One mad.

Across the galaxy the total loss of life was incalculable. The race that was humanity had formed an empire that went across the stars, but they were cruel and callous to all other forms of life, and in their constant wars and battles they spent lives more than they did the ammunition in their guns. Every day they sacrificed millions to sustain the corpse they called their "Emperor". The Eldar, the chosen of the Elder One and the pantheon now all but completely wiped out had been reduced to a dying race that was always struggling to survive, more than comfortable with condemning the rest of the universe to a fiery death if it meant saving themselves, or alternatively dragging everyone down with them if survival was not possible. Many others had willingly become full-blown monsters, obsessed with torture and with pain in the service of nothing but their own sadism.

And then there were the other races, none of whom were any better. Orks, green-skinned barbarians and savages, surged through the galaxy destroying everything in their path simply because they had not the intelligence to do anything else. On the eastern fringes of the universe, a seemingly unstoppable race known as the Tyranids were devouring entire worlds and nothing the Eldar or any of the other races did could halt their advance. From the darkened caverns beneath seemingly abandoned worlds, legions of unkillable mechanical skeletons marched to war alongside their floating monoliths, constantly harvesting more and more souls in the name of their masters the C'tan, monsters that had been the Elder One's greatest failure. Surging through the galaxy assimilating and killing anyone in their path was the Tau Empire, a coalition of races that committed atrocities in the name of a supposed "Greater Good".

And yet all of this paled in comparison to the depravations of the Four Powers. A quartet of Demons from another dimension, these abominations were omnipotent and omnipresent in equal measure, having spread their wicked influence to the whole of the universe and corrupted billions. Even worse, they drew power from the positive things in the universe as well as the negative. In this way they could not be stopped, nor could the monstrosities that served them or the black-armored titans that killed millions in their name.

In short, the Elder One's world was the very definition of hell, and he was cursed to be in it and experience its suffering until one of the many factions inevitably wiped out all the others.

But amidst the monotony of agony and misery and death, the Elder One's other senses took notice of something he had never taken notice of before. It was subtle at first, and he did not sense it amidst all of the usual agony he suffered. But then, like training one's ears to focus more on a curious whisper, the Elder One willed himself to focus his all-seeing senses on that which he had detected against all odds. He willed himself to see through the storm of blood, to push past the endless horrors of never-ending war. And then, finally, after what was decades to everyone else but much less to the Elder One, he finally saw what he was looking for in full.

And he saw another world.

Not another world as in a planet, rather, this was another world as in an entirely different _universe. _One bereft of Eldar, Daemons, Orks, and the other races of the Elder One's universe. All that is except for one: Humans. Humans existed in this world and like the ones in the Elder One's universe were fighting for their very existence against aliens who wanted to wipe them all out.

_How strange... _The Elder One thought. That this one race existed in this other universe when none of the others did. In their place where other species, races that all seemed to want humanity dead. And as the Elder One looked on he could see that they were being mostly successful in this goal of genocide. Humans died in droves against these other races, but nevertheless fought tooth and nail against them. And as the Elder One continued to stare into this other universe, he realized that there was something here that simply did not exist in his universe:

Hope.

The fact of the matter was that no matter how many times these other races slaughtered them, no matter how far back the humans in this universe were pushed, they continued to fight, even when on their hands and knees bleeding. They fought, and as the Elder One realized, they continued to fight against insurmountable odds for two reasons: one because there was still a chance, however slim, that they might just win, and the other reason was because they were fighting not just for their continued existence, but for their future.

In the Elder One's universe there was none of that. In place of hope there was nihilism. Humans still fought without quarter against other races, but they had no future in victory that they could never attain. Only more violence and death, and the same was true of all the other races. None had any future or hope whatsoever. They all continued to fight simply because it was all any of them knew, and would continue to do so until one of the races finally managed to overwhelm and destroy all the others.

It was in this moment that the Elder One realized what he had to do. What he had to do to free himself and his universe from the never-ending nightmare both were stuck in.

Reaching out to this other world as much as he could, the Elder One called on what power he had left and willed himself to do the impossible: he would fuse his world with the other one. He would create something entirely new from two separate things. Create a greater whole that had the best of both worlds. It would have the life of his world without the nihilism. In its place would be the hope and uncertainty that the other universe had. For even if it would all be in vain, and even if there would still be misery, war, and death, it would still be vastly preferable to what he lived in now. _**Anything **_was preferable to what he lived in now. So it was that he willed himself, called on all of the power he possessed, and then finally, acted, before the Four Powers, C'tan, or surviving Eldar Gods could realize what was happening in time.

And then there was a bright, blinding flash, and in an instant, all of the fighting, violence, and death in the Elder One's universe ceased. Not a single living (or unliving) soul in his universe was spared from the great fusion he brought about. The other world was drawn into his, mixed and merged until finally, when he was certain that he had done what he could and also when he felt his power begin to wane, the Elder One ceased, and the bright light vanished from the cosmos.

And with this action, one new, single universe was created.

**852 BCE**  
T'vin Korons had been fighting for and serving the Sangheili Empire for decades, and during his service, he had helped to bring many scattered Sangheili tribes into the empire, determined to spread the truth of the Empire's ways to them all. Finally, after centuries upon centuries of fighting and assimilation, the Sangheili Empire's attempts at completely and totally unifying the Sangheili race under one banner were on the cusp of success.

And then _they _had come.

Appearing out of the sky in a massive space-station, the race of physically frail beings known as the San 'Shyuum had made clear to the Sangheili that they were on their planet looking for relics left behind by the Sangheili's Gods the Forerunners. But for the Sangheili, tampering with their g-ds technology in any way was heresy, and as neither group was remotely willing to compromise, war had broken out. On the ground it wasn't even a contest. The San 'Shyuum were so pathetically weak that T'vin for one felt guilty butchering them in droves. In space though it was different. While the Sangheili were capable in the air to a degree, they had nothing that came close to matching the power of the San 'Shyuum's dreadnought. Thus began a stalemate that lasted for almost nine decades before at long last, a truce was reached and the two sides agreed to sign a treaty known as the Writ of Union, which would form a holy alliance that from that day onward would be known as the Covenant.

Only, while the Covenant was formed and it changed the Sangheili forever, the Writ of Union was never signed.

Instead when the Sangheili sent their emissaries to the San 'Shyuum's dreadnought to sign the Writ of Union, they found that every single San 'Shyuum on the station was dead. Not one had been spared. Their killers were a varied and vibrant lot who said that they had saved the Sangheili from enslavement to weaklings and that they could offer them power beyond their wildest dreams, along with anything else they could ever want. All they had to do was pledge themselves to them. Considering that whatever these things were they had single-handedly wiped out a race without batting an eye, even it was as pathetic a race as the San 'Shyuum, the Sangheili decided to hear these strange beings out.

They called themselves the Daemons of Chaos, and their leaders were four omnipotent beings known as Nurgle, Khorne, Slaanesh, and Tzeentch. Each of them stood for something different, and each of them offered different promises to the Sangheili race. Most of the Sangheili, T'vin included, were extremely wary of these so-called "Four Powers" who offered everything their race could want with loyalty as the only price to be paid. To most Sangheili, it was too good to be true.

And yet for all of that when the Sangheili emissaries returned to their planet's surface, not only had they agreed to sign on with the Daemons on their whole race's behalf, they themselves had already pledged themselves to different Daemon Lords, with each of the Four Powers now having its first of many Sangheili servants. Because the emissaries had signed the contract and the race was under one empire, most Sangheili accepted their new alliance with the Four Powers and their creations without resistance and one by one, all Sangheili pledged themselves to a different one of the Four Powers. What precious few Sangheili objected to the decision to accept the Four Powers did not last long. In less than a year, every single Sangheili on the planet was pledged to a different Daemon Lord.

And so it was that the Covenant was born, and the whole galaxy would suffer for it.

**Author's Note: OK, now that the prologue is complete I gotta make a few things clear so no one gets the wrong idea as this crossover continues:**

**1. First off, I am well aware that there is no "Elder One" in the Warhammer Universe, but I wanted a supreme being to fuse the two worlds into one, and this seemed like the best way to do it. The Emperor of Mankind is powerful and all, but he's not really in a position to do something like this, and even if he was, I don't think he'd necessarily object to the humans are jerks part, considering he himself defines that. **

**2. Word of warning for hardcore Warhammer 40k fans: I am only a casual fan, so if I get anything wrong, I apologize in advance. And I know for a fact there are some things in my crossover that will be different than the actual continuity, particularly with the Four Powers and Chaos Space Marines. These are my interpretations for the purposes of the crossover, so some things will be different.**

**3. Don't expect any X-rated violence. While there will definitely be lots and lots of fighting, I'm not going to, shall we say, go into detailed descriptions of heads and bodies exploding and stuff like that.**


	2. First Contact

Chapter 1: First Contact

Eldrad Ulthran's mind was unlike anything else in the universe. It wasn't just because of his immense intelligence and cunning, but also because of the psychic powers that he possessed. While such abilities were relatively common among the Eldar race, Eldrad's were far, far greater than the rest of his species. The minds of all in the universe were an open book to him, and even more, he read their minds effortlessly, taking in the thoughts of beings throughout the universe with aplomb. Privately Eldrad relished having such power, as it made him feel like a God in his own right, being able to see the thoughts, dreams, and desires of billions, and yet at the same time his own mind was completely untouchable.

But for all of his mental strength he was not quite omniscient. Even Eldrad had a limit, and he could read the minds of all in the universe for only a set amount of time before he reached said limit. He also couldn't read the minds of those he did not know existed, or those who had become tainted by the evil of the Four Powers.

Which was why these new aliens that had been making non-stop attacks on his people still hadn't been defeated. Had he the ability to access their minds freely and without fear of reprisal from their unholy masters he would have already destroyed several fleets worth of the aliens with but a few psychic commands.

They called themselves the Covenant, and were a coalition of various aliens who had all very clearly pledged themselves to the Four Powers. Hence their war with Eldrad's race the Eldar, who had dedicated themselves to stopping the Four Powers and their armies of monsters at any cost.

Already the Eldar had encountered a few of the different races, and saw that each of them had pledged themselves to a different one of the Four Powers. The weakest were insectoid like aliens who flew through the air both planetside and in outer space. Though they exploded when shot just once by any of the Eldar's weapons, they came in swarms and flew in erratic patterns, making them difficult to hit. Judging from the foul smell they were also reported to give off along with their bodies apparently looking like they were decomposing, it was obvious that these "Drones" as the Eldar had dubbed them had pledged themselves to Nurgle, the Lord of Decay.

Next on the hierarchy were small, lithe avian creatures with sharpened teeth that were armed with energy shields that were surprisingly resistant to the Eldar's ballistic weaponry, so Eldar soldiers often had to resort to cutting them into pieces with their chainswords and other melee weapons, or alternatively just bashing their heads in with the butt ends of their guns. They all wore black with some purple, and many adorned themselves with jewelry, which suggested two things: one, that they were a wealthy race, and two that they had pledged themselves to Slaanesh, the most vile of the Four Powers and the personification of self-indulgence. The Eldar knew this particular Daemon Lord well, for it was their own decadence that had spawned the monster in the first place and given it strength enough to kill almost all of their Gods.

After the drones of Nurgle and the avians of Slaanesh, there were massive lumbering behemoths clad in heavy armor that most Eldar weaponry could not penetrate. Warp Cannons did the job, and explosives could damage their armor, but standard armaments often times bounced right off the giants armor. They had over one arm a mighty shield that could be used to deliver bone crushing blows that had already killed many Eldar in just one hit, and in place of their other arm was a massive cannon. The eldritch flames it shot along with the twisting and seemingly random pink stripes and designs on the behemoths sky blue armor both indicated an allegiance to Tzeentch, the Lord of Change.

Finally there was a race of bipedal humanoids with four mandibles who rivaled the Eldar in height when standing up fully. Some even managed to be taller. These beings were fearsome warriors, and many Eldar had already fallen under their plasma weaponry and energy swords. Even worse, these warriors had pledged themselves to not one of the Four Powers but all of them. Some worked for Khorne or Nurgle, others Slaanesh or Tzeentch. And they were by far the greatest of all of the Four Powers many servants.

In the short period of time they had been at war with them, the Eldar had suffered more losses against this "Covenant" than they had during the entirety of the last several decades of war with the Daemons. All of a sudden the Daemons had no less than four new races of servants with which to wage war against the Eldar.

Eldrad scowled. The Eldar had suffered too much already to be bested by some new arrivals to the war between Eldar and Daemons. No, they could not yield, not yet. And as long as just one of Eldrad's soulstones was intact, he knew that he personally would continue to fight, even if it was as a wraithguard and not as the leader of the Farseers. For he had been fighting longer than any other Eldar. He had been there to warn his people of how their growing depravity would condemn them all, and he was there when Fulgrim was corrupted by Slaanesh's evil. And he was still here now, using his incredible psychic abilities and strong tactical mind to see his fleet to victory after victory against the Daemon's latest playthings.

Eldrad allowed for a slight smile of grim satisfaction as he watched his fleet's ships utterly destroy the last of the Covenant vessels they had been fighting. So far while the Covenant had been managing to inflict high casualties on the Eldar, Eldrad's fleet had been faring well, all Covenant falling before either the turbolasers of the Eldar ships guns, or alternatively Eldrad's own psychic power destroying the minds of countless Covenant soldiers.

The latter could only be done sparingly though. Because the Covenant races had already given themselves over to the Four Powers Eldrad knew he could impose his will upon them only occasionally and with restraint, lest the Four Powers influence creep into his own mind and poison it from the inside out. The very idea of becoming another tool for the Four Powers to exercise their depravations sickened Eldrad to no end. So for the most part he was content to let his ships do the killing.

Once the Warps were activated, the innumerable ships of Eldrad's fleet vanished in an instant, off to another destination and to more fighting with the Covenant and their Daemon masters. They didn't have to search long before coming upon another Covenant fleet. The fleet didn't even need to be ordered to fire, and unleashed a hellstorm of ordnance on the Covenant ships in an instant. The surprise attack saw two of the Covenant corvettes blasted to pieces before they could fire a shot, and a third was badly damaged. It managed to return fire for only a few moments before the glorious ships of Eldrad's fleet finished the job.

Then a shot managed to hit the side of one of the Eldar capital ships nearest to Eldrad's flagship, and the whole ship shook violently as the blast collided with its energy shields. The ship turned to face its attacker and entered a fierce missile exchange with it, the darkness of space being very briefly lit with the fires and plasma of the exchange. Yet more vessels came out of slipspace and opened fire on the other ships, Eldrad's flagship included. The vessels wasted no time returning fire, another intense exchange ensuing.

Eldrad watched it all unfold without concern or fear of any kind. Despite the power of the Covenant's plasma weaponry and also their more potent form of faster-than-light travel, Eldrad was still confident that his fleet would prevail once more. The overall war with these aliens on the other hand, was unlikely to be won anytime soon. Eldrad could read the thoughts of his fellow Eldar all over the galaxy, all of whom accepted the mental intrusion without hesitation, such was the fear and respect they showed Eldrad in equal measure. And from these Eldar's thoughts Eldrad could tell that in many places the fighting was not going well. Long had the Eldar struggled against the Daemons of Chaos, and now four entire races reinforced the Four Powers hordes of abominations. Simply put, the Eldar were badly outnumbered and under attack from all sides, and they were likely outgunned as well.

_We can't do this alone... _Eldrad thought, as did many other Eldar. _We need more men. We need...allies._

**__****Unspecified amount of time later**

On February 11th, 2525, humanity made first contact with alien life, and subsequently learned that the universe was much more complicated and alive than anyone had ever previously thought.

The first group to be encountered were avian-like creatures armed with weaponry humans had never seen before, as well as energy shields. Following these were no less than five other races, they and the avians, nick-named "Jackals" by humans all being part of the same alliance known as the Covenant. After the initial clamor and confusion died down, the Covenant races agreed to have a formal first meeting with the United Nations Imperium of Man on the Colony world Harvest.

And then they attacked them.

It all happened so fast that no one had any idea what was going on until after the Covenant races had already laid waste to entire cities and killed thousands. Next thing humanity knew it was at war with enemies who were unlike anything they had ever seen before.

A little less than five months later on July 10th, Covenant forces destroyed two UNIM cruisers and badly damaged a third. Afterwards, they broadcasted four messages to every part of the UNIM they could reach, all of them in perfect English:

_"Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!"_

_"Feel the glory of Necrosis and rejoice. Nurgle loves you all!"_

_"Long shall be your suffering. Joyous be your pain"_

_"Do not ask which creature screams in the night. Do not question who waits for you in the shadow. It is his cry that wakes you in the night, and his body that crouches in the shadow. He is Tzeentch and you are the puppets that dance to his tune..."_

After each of these four messages was played, a fifth followed: "Your destruction is the will of the Four Powers, and we are their instruments"

So it was that UNIM Space Marine Private First Class Donald Burt found himself engaged in heavy fighting with the various armies of the Covenant, and it took only one disastrous firefight with them to tell him all he needed to know.

_I really, really, __**really **__fucking miss fighting Innies..._

A plasma grenade went sailing through the air. Donald dived out of the way, rolled, and shot the Grunt who had thrown it in the head. It hadn't taken long for the marines of the Gray Knights to figure out that the grenades used by the Covenant could "stick" to you, and that if you got tagged with one you were history. There was simply no way to sugar-coat it. Thus the marines of the Gray Knights corps had already trained themselves to kill Grunts the second they saw them priming one of those glowing blue grenades.

Donald unloaded his assault rifle's ammunition into the body of an Elite, the bullets managing to dispel the creature's energy shields. The Elite roared and ran at Donald, tackling him to the ground. Drawing an energy sword in one hand, the alien clad in blood-shine red armor roared in perfect English: "Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!"

Donald jammed the butt end of his assault rifle into the Elite's body, staggering it for a moment. Wasting no time, Donald reloaded his assault rifle and pumped the Elite full of bullets, sending purple blood flying and felling the alien.

As Donald staggered to his feet, he could see the other members of his company struggling against the encroaching mess of Grunts and Elites. Most of the aliens wore red armor and fought with a zeal that the Gray Knights were ill-prepared for. Everywhere Donald looked marines were mercilessly gunned down or hacked to pieces by the elite's energy swords, all the while the monsters roaring again and again: "Blood for the Blood G-d! Skulls for the Skull Throne!"

But not all of the Grunts and Elites were clad in crimson red armor. Others wore greens and brown, and gave off a remarkably bad smell that made Donald sick to his stomach. The manure back on his family's farm smelled leaps and bounds better. These aliens armor also looked to be rusting, and their flesh appeared to be in a state of decay. Were it not for the fact that they fought almost as fiercely as the Elites and Grunts in red Donald and his fellow Gray Knights would have thought that they were corpses.

A few such Grunts and Elite ran at Donald, who drew his magnum and shot the Grunts in the heads before the plasma fire of an Elite in rusting green armor forced him to backpedal. The steel-gray armor that gave the Gray Knights their name was sturdy, but it wasn't indestructible. As Donald retreated behind cover, another Gray Knight rushed in and cut the Elite shooting at Donald down. Kicking the dead alien for good measure, the Gray Knight motioned to Donald to come out from behind cover. Donald acquiesced, and joined his fellows in continuing to trade shots with the Elites and Grunts.

But then, just as the battle was going well, a third race joined the fray.

"What the hell are those things supposed to be?" asked one of the Gray Knights horrified.

"They look like giant bugs to me" Donald said nonchalantly before shooting at one. It exploded in a shower of mucus-colored blood. "They're pretty fragile too"

Fragile they may have been, but the arrival of the insectoid aliens caught the Gray Knights off-guard, giving the surviving Grunts and Elites time to advance, unleashing a merciless volley of plasma fire that cut down some of the Gray Knights and forced the others back. The insectoids also unleashed a volley of plasma fire, and yet more Gray Knights fell to this before the retaliatory gunfire drove them away. But by that point the Elites and their Grunt cronies were right on top of Donald and the few surviving Gray Knights.

The Gray Knights fought fiercely, drawing their swords to meet the Elites energy swords. Though it was now the 26th Century, the leaders of the Gray Knights corps had argued that just as knives had continued to be used even as guns became more advanced by the day, so too then did swords still have a place. Hence, the Gray Knights wielded blue blades made of the finest materials available, and it was just one more reason they were called what they were.

When the fighting finally ended, over half of the Gray Knights and all of the Covenant aliens lay dead. Donald was still standing, sweating and panting uncontrollably underneath his full-face covering helmet as he held his assault rifle loosely in one hand and his now bloodstained sword in the other.

"I want this war to be over already..." Donald muttered under his breath.

"Amen to that" another one said as he looked out at all of the dead Gray Knights. "If I never have to hear the "Blood for the Blood God" rant ever again it will be too so-"

A fearsome sounding voice tore through the air: "Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!"

"...shit"

Looking out, Donald and the surviving Gray Knights saw another small army of Grunts and Elites, all of them clad in bloodshine red armor and armed to the teeth.

"I'm thinking we may want to make a tactical retreat captain" Donald said to his commanding officer, Captain Jerome Munroe.

"The Gray Knights do _**not **_retreat" Captain Munroe said resolutely. "We stand and fight for humanity, no matter what!"

A plasma bolt whizzed through the air and just narrowly missed Munroe's helmeted head.

"All due respect sir, but I think that in this scenario discretion is the better part of valor"

"...point taken Donald. Gray Knights, fall back to higher ground!"

The other Gray Knights nodded and fled as the Grunts and Elites came up the hill after them. Falling back further and further, the Gray Knights were shot at repeatedly by a hail of plasma fire from the Grunts and Elites, all the while the red armored aliens shouted again and again: "Blood for the Blood G-d! Skulls for the Skull Throne! Blood for the Blood G-d! Skulls for the Skull Throne!"

"I guess its too much to hope that some miracle could maybe fall out of the sky and bail us out" one of the Gray Knights muttered.  
-X-  
Eldrad had called for all of the six Phoenix Lords to meet him on his flagship, telling them that he had urgent news to give to them all.

The first to arrive was Asurmen, and this was fitting, for he was rumored to be the very first of the Phoenix Lords. He wore sea blue colored battle armor with massive shoulder pauldrons featuring red jewels in the centers. Over his shoulders he also wore a cape that was blood red in color, and covered his face completely with a white mask that looked a screaming man with green pupilless eyes. Over this he had a large, red cone shaped helmet that boasted a magnificent black and white crest. In all he cut an impressive figure, as was to be expected from a Phoenix Lord.

"Greetings Lord Asurmen" Eldrad said with a bow of respect.

"Greetings Farseer Eldrad" Asurmen replied emotionlessly. "What is this news you have that is so great that you request the presence of all of the Phoenix Lords?"

"The others have not yet arrived Lord Ausrmen. I want you all here before I tell you what I have learned, as it affects us all and could very well change the entire course of the war in our favor"

Asurmen nodded wordlessly and took his seat at a massive silver-gray colored circular table that had six seats, one for each of the Phoenix Lords. In the center of the table was the symbol of the Eldar, and to the sides were the symbols of the two surviving Eldar G-ds: Khaine, the Bloody-Handed G-d of War, and Cegorach, the Laughing G-d and the deity the dreaded Harlequins worshipped with a fanatical zeal.

Next to arrive were Baharroth of the Swooping Hawks and Jain-Zar of the Howling Banshees, the former arriving mere moments ahead of the latter. The two Phoenix Lords were easily just as imposing as Asurmen, with Baharroth covered head-to-toe in dark steel gray armor. Even his wings were steel gray as opposed to the white wings of all the other Swooping Hawks. Jain-Zar wore white and black armor with a mask similar to Asurmens, and long majestic raven-colored hair.

"Greetings Farseer Eldrad" both Phoenix Lords responded, before Baharroth added: "Hope I didn't miss anything, was too busy beating Jain-Zar here to the meeting"

Jain-Zar snarled in anger but said nothing. Instead she turned to Eldrad Ulthran: "I hope this meeting does not prove to be a waste of time" Jain-Zar said harshly. "We've lost too much already to waste anymore of our efforts on trivialities."

Eldrad shook his head. "Trust me Lord Jain-Zar, this is quite important. In fact, it may just be the change of fortunes we've been needing ever since the Covenant first appeared."

"So you have already said" Asurmen interceded. "My own forces and agents have reported diminished activity by the Covenant in many sectors. Its as if they've all withdrawn."

"That's because they have" Eldrad said. "I'll wait till the others arrive before saying anymore, as I hate to repeat myself. Not to mention that this concerns all of us, so I want us all to be here"

It was not long after this that the Phoenix Lords Karandras and Feugan arrived, the leaders of the Striking Scorpions and Fire Dragons respectively. Like all Striking Scorpions, Karandras wore green armor vaguely resembling a carapace in design with a full-face covering helmet adorned with a large bronze crest-piece resembling a scorpion's tail that was itself adorned with green dreadlocks. He was armed with a chainsword of unique design, and in place of his other hand was a crab claw, a side-effect of Slaanesh's minions trying and failing to possess him so many centuries ago. Karandras relished using it against Slaanesh's minions every chance he got, and all other times wore it proudly as a symbol of his victory over the evil lord of self-indulgence.

Feugan wore red orange armor that featured large spiked shoulder pauldrons, a massive and sinister looking helmet with great "wings" on both sides, and a golden clawed gauntlet over one of his hands. The chest and groin pieces of his armor were adorned with the skulls of beasts slain and skinned by him long ago, and grasped firmly in his golden gauntlet hand was a sinister axe-like weapon that was unique to him.

"We are here" Feugan said laconically. Eldrad nodded. "That leaves only one. Taking his time as usual"

"The Harvester of Souls goes where he pleases Farseer" Jain-Zar pointed out. "And none of us can do a thing to change that"

The Harvester of Souls, the last of the Phoenix Lords, and also the most powerful, was Maughan-Ra, leader of the Dark Reapers. A cold and merciless executioner, Maughan-Ra's exploits were legendary, to the point that his fellow Eldar rightly feared him more than the Daemons of Chaos did. Perhaps the greatest story of all concerning his terrible power was when he single-handedly defended the entire planet of Stormvald from a Covenant fleet that had already glassed two other Eldar worlds and been gradually overrunning entire Eldar territories. More recently he went into the Eye of Terror to save the lost Craftworld of Altansar, which was also Maughan-Ra's homeworld and where he founded the Dark Reaper aspect shrine.

In all, Maughan-Ra was more than a match for any other being in the galaxy, and no Eldar ever dared to stand in his way, for even if the tales surrounding him had been embellished, all of the other Phoenix Lords along with Eldrad had witnessed his power firsthand enough times to know that he was still incredibly powerful.

But then, after a time, the door to the meeting room on the bridge opened once more and Maughan-Ra stepped through, barely managing to fit through the door due to his massive, bulky form. He was clad from head to toe in bulky black armor with a skeleton motif, with designs representing the entirety of an Eldar's skeleton all over his armor, up to his helmet which was in the visage of a sinister looking skull with an amethyst colored jewel in the center of the forehead. His shoulder pauldrons were designed to look like two large skulls, with the eyes filled with the same amethyst colored jewels as the one in the center of his forehead. In his hands he held his signature weapon, a massive Maugetar with a large bone colored blade attached to it as a fearsome bayonet.

In all his appearance was both awe-inspiring and utterly terrifying in equal measure, just like Maughan-Ra himself.

Maughan-Ra said nothing as he entered, merely surveying the room and looking at all of his fellow Phoenix Lords before standing near the table rather than taking his seat.

"Now that you're all here I'm going to get right to the point" Eldrad said. "And I'll be doing it _my _way, so ready your minds"

"I resent having to open up my mind Farseer" Feugan mumbled before adding: "But I shall do it nontheless"

Eldrad nodded wordlessly and used his psychic powers to show the Phoenix Lords what he himself had already borne witness to, feeding them images and memories with incredible force. Lesser beings might not have been able to take such an intense mental experience for long, but the Phoenix Lords were anything but lesser beings.

_They saw..._

_The Covenant in all of their forms, fighting ferociously against an enemy, and drawing blood as they always did, but it was not Eldar they fought. It was another race._

_Humans was their name. Physically they resembled the Eldar, but shorter and less beautiful on average, with most of the males possessing facial hair that the Eldar found disgusting. They, like the Eldar, had a very robust military with many different types of soldiers, but like the Eldar they struggled against the Covenant. The Covenant had attacked them only very recently, and it was clear humanity was still reeling from the shock of learning that they weren't the only intelligent life in the universe and that what other life there was was out to kill them all. The Phoenix Lords heard the same messages the humans had heard given to them by the Covenant, how their destruction was the will of the Four Powers, and how already tens of thousands of humans were dead..._

The images and memories ceased, and the Phoenix Lords all returned to reality. They did not stay silent for long before Baharroth, quick in everything, spoke first: "So the Covenant found some new things to kill. Why should we care?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Eldrad asked. "These humans could be the allies we've desperately needed for so long now."

"What? How dare you suggest such a thing Farseer" Karandras said. "Align ourselves with those primitive apes? I'd never lower myself to working with such creatures"

"I concur" Jain-Zar said, her voice filled with contempt. "It'd be horribly dishonorable to so much as consider it"

"Don't let your arrogance blind you Phoenix Lords" Eldrad said. "Yes, these creatures are primitive, but the simple truth is that we as a race are declining, and have been for centuries now. And as our numbers thin the armies of the Four Powers grow and grow. We're outnumbered, and we've been outnumbered for almost the entire war. Now its finally begun to take a toll. We _**need more men**_. If that means pursuing a temporary alliance with the _Mong Ki_, then I say so be it."

"I don't know Eldrad" Feugan said. "I think I agree with Jain-Zar and Karandras. I don't like the idea of putting my faith in such crude savages. I'd rather take my chances"

"I say why not do it?" Baharroth said, intervening. "Let the Covenant and the Four Powers butcher another race for a change. The _Mong Ki_ should at least make for good cannon fodder"

"I for one believe that the Farseer makes a strong argument" Asurmen said. "And when the only counter-argument that can be offered is hubris, I am inclined to agree with Eldrad on this. We should pursue an alliance with the apes. The enemy of our enemy should be considered a friend"

Jain-Zar scoffed. "Bah. Let the Four Powers wipe them out. The humans could never be of any use to us"

"I disagree" Eldrad said. "For all their crudeness, the _Mong Ki_ know how to wage war and how to kill, and those are skills that are always welcome in our fight against the Four Powers. But in any event, we are going around in circles. I say we put it to a vote. All in favor of pursuing an alliance with humanity, say aye"

"AYE!" said Baharroth. Eldrad himself said "aye" as well, followed swiftly by Asurmen. Jain-Zar, Karandros and Feugan all remained silent. That left Maughan-Ra as the tie-breaker. All turned to face him.

"And you Lord Maughan-Ra?" Eldrad asked. "What say you in this?"

For a moment, Maughan-Ra was silent, but then he spoke: "I have heard much talk, and seen many sights. Neither means much to me. From what I know, these apes fight the same foe we do. Kill the same enemies who have committed gross injustices against our race. I am in favor of anything that will bring about a total end to the Four Powers and the Covenant. Therefore, if these apes can help us bring more death to our enemies, then I say so be it. I vote in favor of an alliance"

"Then it is decided" Eldrad said. "We shall make contact with humanity and work with them against the Covenant"

"I hope you know what you're doing Farseer" Jain-Zar said harshly.

"I am the greatest of the Farseers and my psychic abilities are without equal" Eldrad said. "I _**always **_know what I'm doing"  
-X-  
Plasma bolts whizzed through the air and slammed against the Gray Knights cover again and again in a continuous monotony. But for all of that the rubble Donald, Captain Munroe, and the two other surviving Gray Knights had all taken cover behind was holding. But despite that the Gray Knights knew that they could not hide behind cover forever. The Covenant forces were advancing, the Gray Knights could tell by both the increasingly foul smell in the air and the ever-loudening "Blood G-d" rant of the red armored aliens.

"We're all going to die..." one of the Gray Knights muttered.

"Maybe" Captain Munroe said. "But if we are, we're taking a piece of those xeno bastards with us. Once the Covenant close in, unleash all of your remaining frag grenades on my signal."

"Understood" the Gray Knights all said in unison. As they prepared themselves they could hear, and smell, the Covenant forces getting closer and closer to their position. It wouldn't be long before the Covenant forces were right on top of them. As they neared ever more, Captain Munroe was all set to give the order to throw the grenades.

But before he could, the sounds of powerful gunshots tore through the air. As the confused Gray Knights listened behind cover, they could hear an unknown force attacking the Covenant troops from behind, the aliens screaming in both shock and pain as they were all cut down. After the last of the Covenant aliens fell down dead, a voice called out to the Gray Knights: "You can come out now. The Covenant are all dead"

The Gray Knights hesitated for a moment before one of them looked out with his sniper rifle. After getting a good look at who the Gray Knight's saviors were, he turned to his fellows: "They're not Covenant, but they're not humans either..."

"Are you going to come out or not?"

The Gray Knights slowly came out from behind cover one by one, all of them keeping their guns raised and aimed at the strange blue and red armored humanoids who now stood over dozens of dead Covenant.

"We are the Eldar" one of the ones in blue armor said. "And we are here to seek an alliance with humanity against the Covenant"

**Author's Note: Went back and made a few changes to the early chapters like this one. For one, I changed the UNSC to UNIM (United Nations Imperium of Man).**

**Also, as one of my more..."passionate" critics so _eloquently _pointed out, I made a mistake regarding Fulgrim. As I mentioned earlier, my knowledge of Warhammer 40k is basic at best, so inevitably things like accidentally making Fulgrim instead of an Eldar happen. Ah well. So yes, here Fulgrim was an Eldar instead of a Primarch. If it makes you feel any better, think of him as an Eldar Primarch.**


	3. Corbulo Part I

Chapter 2: Corbulo, Part I

**Corbulo Training Academy, 2526 AD**

Thomas Lasky was not a soldier.

He'd known it to be true deep down for a long time, but in the last couple of weeks he realized more and more that he just didn't have it in him. He lacked that willingness to fight without quarter, and the belief that he should follow orders when he knew there was a better way.

He felt that the UNIM had become too comfortable with waging war, and that the insurrectionists, while terrorists, had their reasons for doing what they did. Maybe not excusable reasons, but reasons all the same. But he seemed to be the only one who ever acknowledged that. They weren't _**all **_evil mass murderers who dropped nukes on innocent people. Some of them were just people who had been bullied and overtaxed by the UNIM for too long and just wanted a better life. Lasky could understand that, especially since his own life wasn't the happiest. His father and brother were dead, and he never saw his mother. Not exactly much of a family.

And as a consequence of his views and borderline pacifism, he made no friends at Corbulo either with two exceptions: Chyler Silva and Michael Sullivan. But the rest just dismissed him as an "Innie Lover", which Lasky wasn't. He sympathized with _**some **_of them. There was a difference, one that none of his squadmates seemed to see, even Silva and Sullivan.

But in any event, Lasky was done with it all now. Despite the best efforts and intentions of his Colonel Mehaffey, Lasky had decided that he lacked the ruthlessness that seemed to be required to be a UNIM Space Marine. So it was that when he learned he could get a discharge by way of having an illness, he was ready to take his chance.

But before he did, he felt that perhaps he at least owed Silva enough to tell her first, and to say good-bye. For though the two didn't often see eye-to-eye, she was still one of his only friends. So it was that Lasky went looking for Silva as night fell on Corbulo. He found her sitting at what was usually _his _brooding spot, near the Space-Elevator. Walking over to her, Lasky sat by her side and she turned to face him.

"Hey..." Lasky said awkwardly.

"I thought I'd give your spot a try." Silva said with a smile, then adding in a pained tone: "That comm didn't make any sense. Hating the Innies is all I've ever known..."

Silva was referring to some hacked footage Sullivan had shown to the other members of Hastati squad, which showed UNIM forces fighting _with _Insurrectionists against some unknown adversary. None of the cadets had any idea what it was supposed to be, nor did they recognize the olive green armored titans who were shown helping fight the unknown foe...

"Did you tell Mehaffey about it?" Lasky asked.

Silva shook her head "no" before her eyes fell upon the discharge form Lasky was holding.

"What's that?" Silva asked.

"Oh, apparently I'm allergic to war" Lasky said matter-of-factly. "Or cryo-tubes as it were"

"What does this mean?" Silva asked. "Are you leaving?"

Lasky nodded. "If I sign this, yeah, I'll be gone tomorrow."

"Are you going to?"

"I..." Lasky was all set to say "yes" as in fact he _had _been, but now that he thought about it some more he was beginning to hesitate. He had nowhere else to go if he left Corbulo, and not to mention that his last firefight with his team _had _been a success under his leadership. Was he really going to bow out now?

"I...don't know" Lasky finished lamely. Silva didn't buy it.

"Oh, it's okay." she said in a reassuring but pained tone. "I know you don't want to be here..."

"That's not true. Its...more complicated than that..."

Silva shook her head. "If you say so. I just thought... that maybe..." she trailed off before saying finally: "I'll miss you."

"Chyler..."

Lasky shut his eyes instinctively and moved closer to Chyler, who did the same. Before they knew it they were sharing a kiss.

_Why does this decision have to be so hard to make?_ Lasky thought as he kissed Silva.

The two's moment or intimacy was interrupted by the loud blaring sound of an emergency siren.

"What is that?" Silva asked, ending her kiss with Lasky.

"I don't know..."

The voice of Corbulo Academy's AI Orlin came on: "All cadets, report to the tether. Campus-wide evacuation."

Getting down from the brooding spot, Lasky and Silva followed the large throng of marines and cadets that were all running in the same direction in a sea of blue and white, up a large flight of stairs. More Marines stood on the stairs hollering orders: ""To the tether! Now! This is not a drill!"

"Let's go, let's go, let's go, come on!"

Finally, Silva and Lasky arrived with the main group and got in line with the other cadets, all of whom were heading to the space tether. Soon they arrived at a corridor leading to the space elevator, with more marines there to urge them to keep moving forward, all of them clad in the iconic blue armor with the UNIM's two-headed eagle symbol displayed prominently on their chests.

"Let's move it, cadets!" one of the marines barked. "Go, go, move it, cadets! Go, go, go!"

As the throng of cadets continued to move in a mob, Lasky and Silva could see Colonel Mehaffey herself standing in the corridor, barking out orders along with the marines.

"Go to your squads. Now! Keep moving, cadets!"

As Lasky and Silva continued to move with the rest of the throng like small fish swept up in a current, their sqaudmate Junjie Chen came up behind them.

"Chyler, Lasky. The rest of the squad's already at the tether. Let's go."

Indeed, Hastati Squad's sergeant April "Robot" Orenski was signalling for Hastati Squad amidst the chaos.

"Hastati! This way. Hurry up. Right here. Right here. Get in line. Lasky, Chen, let's go."

As all the members of Hastati gathered beside Orenski, she gave out new orders: "Okay. Hold tight. Everyone stay in line."

Lasky whispered to Sullivan: "What is this? Insurrectionists?"

"I have no idea." Sullivan replied bluntly.

"What's happening?" asked Walter Vickers. Orenski turned to him. "When we're assigned a number, we're going to get on to the tether."

As Orenski said this, lightning flashed in the sky followed by the sound of booming thunder. Everyone looked up to see several ODST drop pods come rocketing down out of the sky.

"Why are ODSTs dropping here?" Sullivan asked.

"I don't know" Orenski replied.

"Because we're under attack" Lasky said.

"Whatever it is, its not good" Orenski observed as more pods fell out of the sky like massive steel raindrops.

"ODSTs dropping is _never_ good." Silva pointed out.

"Screw this" said another Hastati squad member, Dimah Tchakova. "I can get us on this wagon, I have the clearance..."

"No." Orenski said bluntly. "We will hold our position."

Dimah turned to her fellow squad members. "Guys, come on, I can get us out of here, really"

"No, Tchakova, that is a direct order." Orenski said in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Fine, then I'll go by myself!"

Dimah was all set to run off but Orenski reacted quickly enough to grab her by the arm and hold her in place. "Stay where you are Tchakova." Orenski growled. "I am a hairs' breadth away from getting you a court martial when this is over..."

"LET GO OF ME!" Dimah shouted, but Orenski held firm. Sullivan walked up to Dimah and tried to comfort her.

"Dimah, come on, calm down, it'll be alright. We just gotta wait a little while to get out of here is all. Calm down..."

Dimah continued to struggle against Orenski at first, but gradually, she began to calm herself a little, and Orenski released her hold on her. Dimah clutched Sullivan tightly to her as a marine's voice tore through the air.

"The wagon's full. Send her up!"

"This is taking too long April" Vickers said. "Maybe we should just bum-rush and let Dimah use her connections to get us out of here."

Orenski shook her head. "No, no, no, no, we'll be fine." As Orenski said this the elevator doors closed and the car began its ascent.

It didn't get far.

Out of the clouds came a trio of large purple vessels that opened fire on the space elevator, shooting out indigo-colored blasts at it, aiming at the space tether. The laser blasts vaporized it the second they hit it, and the support structure of the elevator bent and buckled before the lower portion of it collapsed altogether towards the the terminal where Hastati squad was still standing, loose pieces of metal sent flying in all directions.

Everyone down below screamed and ran as debris from the destroyed space elevator rained down on them all. The aftershock of the blast threw Lasky and Silva to the floor as dust filled the air. Silva forced herself up first and then helped Lasky to his feet. A deafening boom ripped through the air, far louder than thunder and also from something far more dangerous. Looking out the window, Silva and Lasky saw an ODST firing an Assault Rifle at a large, bipdeal creature with mandibles and blood red colored armor armed with a weapon that was two glowing blue blades attached to a silver-gray grip. The creature cut the ODST down with the weapon and then spotted Lasky and Silva.

"Oh my God, what is that?"

With a swing of its weapon, the red armored creature decapitated the nearby statue of General Corbulo and growled, saying something in a language that Lasky and Silva did not understand.

Silva turned to Lasky and shook him to get his attention. "Tom come on, we have to go"

Lasky nodded and ran along with Silva, leaving the red armored alien with the glowing blue weapon behind. "What was that thing?" Lasky asked.

"I don't know" Silva replied.

As the two continued to run, the space tether was destroyed by the same ships that had destroyed the space elevator, causing dozens of people to fall down on Lasky and Silva, crashing through the glass roof and sending shards of glass everywhere, some of them giving Lasky and Silva cuts across the cheeks and arms.

"Come on, we have to keep moving!" Silva shouted. Needing no other reminder, Lasky continued to follow Silva, who outpaced him by quite a bit. As they continued to run, Lasky looked around in horror at the chaos and carnage that was present. An ODST was blown away by a glowing blue grenade that stuck to his body before detonating. A Marine screamed in agony as he was shot dead by another of the red-armored aliens Lasky and Silva had seen earlier. Yet another Space Marine was engulfed in an explosion. Everywhere Lasky looked, ODSTs and the blue armored Space Marines traded fire with some unknown force, the sounds of gunfire filling the air. Catching up with Orenski, she guided Lasky and Silva through the firefight as incessant blasts of gunfire lit up the darkness.

"Come on, let's go!" Orenski shouted.

Looking around, Lasky could see two cadets from another squad get mercilessly cut down by pink crystalline projectiles. Then amidst the chaos he saw Colonel Mehaffey herself fighting alongside the ODSTs and Space Marines, yelling at the cadets as she did: "Get to the dorms, go!"

"Colonel Mehaffey...?"

Go, go, go go!" Mehaffey shouted before she was hit by more of the pink crystalline projectiles. As she fell, Lasky felt the world slow down, and for a moment he became deaf to all the shouting, gunshots, explosions, and death filling the air before Silva grabbed him and shook him violently.

"TOM!" she shouted.

Lasky snapped back to reality, but still couldn't tear his eyes away from Mehaffey's dead body. Silva pulled on his arm.

"Come on, let's go!" she shouted.

Finally, Lasky shut his eyes and followed Silva as Space Marines shouted: "Fall back! Protect the cadets!"

"To the dorms!" shouted a voice that Lasky recognized as Junjie Chen. The two followed him through the chaos into the dorms, where the rest of Hastati Squad had regrouped. Vickers was trying in vain to open the doors to the dorm rooms.

"The doors are all locked!" Vickers growled.

Sullivan turned and tried the door to his room and found it to be unlocked. He turned to the other members of Hastati Squad.

"In here!"

The members of Hastati all squeezed into Sullivan's room, who then locked the door as the sounds of gunfire and screams continued to fill the air in a deafening bedlam.

"Oh my God, they're all dead..." Dimah whispered.

"Colonel Mehaffey..." Lasky whispered, still dumbstruck by her death. She really had been one of the only people at Corbulo who had any kind of faith in him.

Vickers stepped forward. "We'll be too if we don't do something!"

Sullivan scattered his hand on the holotable in the center of his room, trying in vain to activate it.

"The comms are offline" he said grimly.

"We're at war" Vickers muttered.

Everyone fell silent as Vickers said this before the sound of a scream tore through the air. Startled by the sound, the members of Hastati Squad grouped up closer to one another. Lasky made his way over to the door and peeked through the slit in it. He saw that a cadet had been fatally impaled by a large black sword being held by a monster with blood red skin, lanky limbs, horns, and a long, forked tongue. The creature made a wicked grin as the cadet fell down dead.

"Blood for the Blood God!" the monster shouted with sadistic glee. "Skulls for the Skull Throne!"

And then the monster walked off, repeating those same words again and again until it became too far away to be heard. As it left though, several of the bipedal creatures with mandibles Lasky had already seen several times now appeared, but these were different from the other ones. In place of the blood red colored armor, these ones wore armor that was sky blue with pink stripes that went in random patterns. They also wore helmets that covered their entire faces, and attached to their backs were what looked like the jumppacks worn by the legendary ODST "Bullfrogs".

Then, the aliens disappeared before Lasky's eyes. He turned back around to face the other members of Hastati Squad.

"They're invisible"

"What the hell is invisible?" Dimah demanded.

"Some of the aliens are inside, and they're invisible." Lasky explained.

Turning around, Lasky looked back out through the slit in the door. He saw the doors to another dorm get blasted in by seemingly nothing, but Lasky knew that it was the cloaked aliens, who moved in and slaughtered the people within, a sight Lasky couldn't bear to watch for too long before turning away in disgust. But he could still hear the dying screams of the cadets and marines within.

"Let's go" Lasky said to the other members of Hastati Squad. "We gotta get out of here."

"No no no no, screw that." Sullivan said. "We stay here."

"Where are we gonna go?" Chen asked.

"We'll go to the training room" Orenski decided. "We're gonna get prepped up and we're gonna get some weapons."

Chen stepped forward. "I'll take point" he said confidently.

Orenski nodded and then shouted out to the rest of the squad: "Come on. Come on, line up!"

Hastati Squad did so, with Chen taking point as promised. Looking out of the slit in the door, Chen could see the door to the dorm next to Hastati's get blasted down.

"Now!" he shouted.

Needing no other invitation, the members of Hastati Squad all ran out of the room, with Chen leading them left when they came across an intersection in the hallways. As they ran though, one of the squad, Shere, his name was, ran ahead of Chen...and then stopped.

"What's going on?" Orenski demanded.

"Why'd you stop Shere?" Vickers demanded.

Shere's body hit the floor with a thud as Chen nervously backed away from his killer. Standing over Shere's body was the same red demon Lasky had seen before, its now blood-stained black sword held menacingly in its bony red claws.

"Blood for the Blood God!" the monster screamed. "Skulls for the Skull Throne!"

"Shere!" Vickers shouted horrified.

"Oh my God..." Chen muttered, backing away further and further from the red-skinned demon, who began to make his way towards them all, saying again: "Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!"

Fear and survival instinct surging through their veins, the remaining members of Hastati Squad bolted to the right, running as fast as they could and away from the devil that had impaled Shere. Finally, they came to the training room.

"Lasky, send the distress beacon" Orenski ordered. "Chyler, Sullivan help me get the weapons"

Sullivan and Silva obeyed and followed Orenski to the weapons compartment, followed by Vickers. As Dimah and Chen stood next to him looking around nervously, Lasky worked on the doorpad.

"Dammit!" Orenski growled. "My code isn't working..." As she said this, Silva and Vickers tried to force the compartments open manually, but they wouldn't budge.

"Try again. Do it again!" Silva shouted to Orenski.

Meanwhile, Sullivan pointed at the nearby door. "Lasky, the door!"

"Yeah, I know, I'm trying..."

"April, come on!" Silva begged.

As Lasky finally managed to shut the door, he sent out a distress broadcast: "Mayday, mayday mayday. This is Cadet Thomas Lasky. I repeat, mayday! Mayday! There's been an attack on Corbulo Academy. Excessive casualties. I repeat, excessive casualties!"

As Lasky finished sending the distress broadcast, Orenski finally came back from the weapons rack, a look of defeat on her face. "I don't have access to the live rounds." she said sadly.

"I think the beacon's down as well..." Lasky said, his voice also filled with defeat.

"We're dead..." Dimah whimpered.

Orenski began to pace back and forth, muttering: "Okay, alright. Think, think..."

"We can't stay in here, April." Lasky said.

"Yes, but we can't go out there either!" Orensi snapped.

The sound of a loud thud rang throughout the room. Turning to the source, the other members of Hastati Squad saw Vickers hitting the weapons compartments with a fire extinguisher again and again. As the others got wind of this, they started to egg him on: "Come on, Vickers! Harder!" Chen shouted.

"Harder Vickers!" Sullivan shouted as well.

But as Vickers continued to ram the compartments, another banging sound rang through the air, this one coming from the door. Freezing in terror, everyone turned to the source of the sound and watched the door in horror as the banging continued.

"Hide..." Orenski said weakly.

The cadets bolted to the back of the room. Vickers however split up from the rest of the group and went to the right while the rest of Hastati went to the left. Realizing this, Vickers attempted to rejoin his squad, but it was here that the door was finally blasted down, causing all the members of Hastati to freeze in terror.

"Lasky, go for the door" Sullivan whispered.

"But we can't leave Vickers!" Lasky protested.

Then the force that had blasted the door down stepped forward. The first ones through were short little creatures a couple heads shorter than the members of Hastati Squad, with stubby little arms and legs of a sickly gray color. Their heads looked shriveled and diseased, almost like a shrunken head. They wore breather masks over their mouths and had large cone shaped backpacks attached to their breastplates, which were red or pink in color. Were it not for their weapons the members of Hastati Squad would have regarded their appearance as almost comical.

Then the others came.

They were humanoids, clad from head to toe in bulky black armor with helmets that covered their faces completely and looked like mockeries of the helmets worn by the legendary Gray Knights and other Space Marine chapters. Some of them were adorned with different kinds of horns. Others had red plumage atop their black helmets and others still had a small bronze skull on their chest pieces.

"What...what are those things?" Sullivan asked horrified.

"Purge them" one of the black armored figures said to his fellows.

Leaping out from behind his cover, Vickers swung his fire extinguisher at one of the small alien's heads, and managed to knock it out.

"Run!" Vickers shouted. Then one of the black armored humanoids shot him with a crude looking pistol. Vickers never stood a chance. The impact of the bullet sent his body flying through the air as if he'd been hit by a cannonball. He slammed into the nearby wall with a sickening crunch and then fell, blood now coming out of his body freely.

"Vickers!" Sullivan shouted in horror. Turning to the source, the black armored humanoids went after the other members of Hastati Squad.

"Kill them all" the one who had shot Vickers said. "Cleanse this UNSC filth from the galaxy in the name of the Four Powers"

"What are they talking about?" Sullivan whispered nervously.

"I...I think those are Innies..." Dimah stammered.

"That's not possible..." Silva said weakly. "Innies don't have that kind of armor..."

The black armored men were all set to open fire and cut down all of the members of Hastati Squad when suddenly a blade appeared out of the one who had killed Vicker's chest. He grunted in pain before slumping over. Standing over him was a tall, lithe humanoid clad in sea blue armor with a white loinclith over it as well as white shoulder pauldrons. Over his head he wore a tall white helmet with a black faceplate and adorned with a black and yellow crest. Over one arm he had a small silver shield and on his back he wore a blue banner that on it a symbol of a white cross topped with a white triangle. He also had in a scabbard on his back a sword and held in his hands a long black and brown pole topped with a blade that had been what had gone through the black armored man who had shot Vickers.

In all he was an impressive looking figure, and all were awed by his presence. Then the other black armored humanoids and the short aliens tried to shoot him.

In a blur-like motion the sea blue armored figure spun and twirled his bladed polearm around and around, cutting the smaller aliens to ribbons and forcing the black armored men to back away and keep their distance. Then, bursting through the ceiling and raining rubble down on the black armored men was another humanoid in steel gray armor with wings on his back and a sword in each hand. As he landed, he was followed by a few more humanoids in sky blue armor with white wings. They stared down the group of black armored men as the members of Hastati looked on in shock and awe.

"None of you will leave this place" the steel-gray armored one said coldly.

And then, in a blinding flurry of bullets and sword slashes the two groups of armored enigmas clashed with one another. It all happened so fast that the watching Hastati Squad could not keep up. When the dust settled all of the black armored humanoids were dead, mercilessly cut down like so much wheat before a scythe.

Finally, the steel-gray armored man turned to face the watching Hastati Squad, all of them still paralyzed with fear and awe.

"We don't have much time. Come with us if you value your lives."

**Author's Note: Yes, this is the _Forward unto Dawn _mini-series mixed with Warhammer 40k elements. This _is _supposed to be the Human Covenant War with the Daemons of Chaos and Eldar thrown in, so expect many chapters to be very similar to actual Halo events. I plan to spice things up a bit though to make sure it feels less like a novelization or a transcript. As it is I like how this one's been turning out so far, if not also a bit longer than I had expected. Ah well.**

**And yes, I made the Insurrectionists the Chaos Space Marines. My own little twist on them I suppose. I mean, there were Innies who actually thought the Covenant would be better than the UNSC (talk about irredeemably stupid), so I figured this wouldn't be that much of a stretch.  
**

**Also, just to clarify: Elites and Grunts are the only Covenant races who have pledged loyalty to all of the Four Powers. So some Elites and Grunts work for each of the four. In the case of the Elites who work for Khorne, they're more like frontal assault soldiers, while the ones who work for Tzeentch are basically Elite Rangers with cloaking capability like Stealth Elites.  
**

**Lastly, a lot of people have been asking me: "Is this the Imerium or the UNSC?" The answer is that its mostly UNSC, but has some of the aesthetic and soldiers of the Imperium. So for example, the Marines look like the Imperium's Space Marines, only the armor is less bulky. In all its about 80-85% UNSC and 15-20% Imperium. Also again, I am only a casual Warhammer fan, so I apologize in advance for anything I get wrong and/or take some creative liberties with.  
**

**And that's everything. I hope you all continue to enjoy my crossover!  
**


	4. Corbulo Part II

Chapter 3: Corbulo Part II

All of the members of Hastati Squad were still too dumbstruck by what they had just witnessed to respond to the steel-gray armored man with wings. Seeing this, he shook his head and muttered something about "apes" before turning to the sea blue armored figure.

"Endewan, inform the others that we have six survivors"

"Endewan" nodded and put his hand to his helmet, speaking in a language that Hastati Squad did not understand. After a while, the conversation ceased and all of the armored figures turned to face Hastati Squad.

"What's going on?" Dimah demanded. "Who are you people?"

"Why do you have wings?" Sullivan asked. "I didn't think angels existed...or wore armor"

"How did you find us?" Lasky asked.

"A distress beacon" the steel-gray armored one said bluntly. "You six are the only survivors we reached in time"

"In the school?" Sullivan asked.

The man shook his head. "On the planet"

"Oh my G-d..." Dimah whispered.

"I suggest you apes arm yourselves with whatever passes for weapons amongst your kind. We've got fifteen minutes to get to the evacuation point."

"The...weapons racks are locked, and we can't open them"

The man shook his head before motioning for Endewan. Without a word, Endewan used his bladed polearm to slash the locker door to pieces. Wasting no time, the members of Hastati Squad all armed themselves and got into their suits of armor, which was camouflage colored and not as good as the armor worn by actual Space Marines. It was still better than wearing a dress uniform though.

The steel-gray armored man then turned to Endewan. "Keep them alive Endewan. I must return to the other Swooping Hawks. We'll do what we can to keep the aerial forces of the Covenant and the Lord of Change off your backs before meeting back up with you at the rendezvous point.

Endewan nodded, and then the steel-gray armored figure and his winged cohorts took flight and flew out through the hole in the ceiling that they'd made. Endewan then turned to Hastati Squad. "Stay close to me apes. I'm your best chance of surviving this"

No sooner did Endewan finish his sentence did he lead Hastati Squad out of the training room armory, all of them taking up formation as they did. Endewan and Orenski led, with Lasky and Chen on the left, and Silva and Dimah on the right. Sullivan watched the rear. They walked for only a short while though before Endewan held up his hand as an indication to halt.

"Stay quiet" Endewan said. "Do not leave no matter what you hear outside or I will kill you myself."

Endewan was all set to walk off as he finished his sentence but Lasky called out to him: "What are you?"

Endewan turned to Lasky and said simply: "I am an Eldar. While your race was mastering fire, we were mastering the stars. We our your superiors, and now your saviors. Never forget this." And then Endewan walked off. As he disappeared, Silva, Dimah, and Sullivan all sat down to rest.

"What the hell is going on?" Sullivan breathed. "We're following some...armored alien, angel...thing" he finished lamely. As he did he turned to check the back. "And who knows if he's even coming back?"

"He will. He's gotta come back. I believe him."

"Really?" Silva asked. "You believe in the..."thing" that views us all as inferior to him and threatened to kill us if we left this room? Wonderful."

As Silva said this, Sullivan could see Dimah tensing up again, wrapping her arms around herself and nervously looking over her shoulder periodically. He walked over to her.

"You OK?" Sullivan asked. Dimah shook her head "no".

"Come on Dimah, keep it together. You're going to be all right. I promise"

Dimah made a faint smile. "Thanks Sullivan"

Off in the distance, the faint noise of what sounded like something falling to the floor and screams could be heard by the members of Hastati, getting their attention. Then there was silence before the sounds of heavy footsteps got louder and louder. Then out of the shadows came the sea blue armored form of Endewan.

"Who among you is the best shot?" Endewan asked.

"…you probably" Sullivan replied bluntly.

"Yes I know that primitive, I mean who is the best shot among _you_?"

"Chyler is." Lasky said resolutely. Silva nodded in agreement. "I am good, but April Orenski here is our sergeant..."

Ignoring them, Endewan turned to Lasky. "You boy, can you drive any kind of vehicle among your people?"

"Uh...yeah. Sure" Lasky said, though the tone in his voice was filled with uncertainty. Nevertheless, Endewan seemed satisfied with this answer.

"Good, because I have procured a vehicle from the now deceased head of this academy. Its crude, but it will suffice. We are headed for it now. The females who are apparently your best shooters will be on the left and right, and the driver will be in the center. Be warned: the area is infested with both Covenant and monstrosities who are also in the service of the Four Powers, so I'd advise staying close to me."

Upon exiting the building, the surviving half-dozen members of Hastati Squad fell in step behind the Eldar Warrior who was now leading them out. To their surprise, there was no enemy force out to shoot at them, nor was there any sound of gunfire. Just deathly silence.

And then they saw it.

Littering the ground like leaves in a forest where the bodies of all of Hastati's fellow cadets, teachers, and the blue armored Space Marines who had died trying to protect them all. Even the legendary ODSTs had perished, with the now decapitated body of one mere inches away from where Hastati and Endewan were. His severed head, still in its helmet, was just a few feet away from the body. In all the once proud Corbulo Military Academy had been reduced to a graveyard and the site of a ruthless and sadistic massacre. It was nauseating for the members of Hastati Squad to see.

"Come on everyone, keep up" Orenski ordered.

"Where...where did they all go?" Sullivan asked.

Out of the darkness a bullet shot through the air and grazed Sullivan's leg. But such was the power of the bullet that the "graze" had caused blood to spurt out of Sullivan's leg. Sullivan cried out in pain and agony before falling over. Endewan rushed to his side and protected the fallen cadet from continued gunfire coming out of the darkness.

"Get down!" Endewan roared. Needing no other incentive, the other members of Hastai Squad hit the dirt as Endewan traded fire with the enemy shooters. "Get to the vehicle!" Endewan shouted. "I shall draw their fire!"

Survival instinct kicked and the members of Hastati Squad bolted, with Orenski taking position. "Lasky, go!"

Lasky nodded and ran as fast as he could go, with Chen coming with him to provide covering fire for Lasky. Finally, through the night shroud Lasky saw what he was looking for: a UNSC Warthog, the quintessential UNSC land vehicle.

"Go Lasky!" Chen shouted. "I will cover you!"

Lasky nodded and reached into the waiting jeep. As he did, he felt his hands touch cold skin. Panicking, Lasky could see that it was none other than General Black himself. Forcing down the rising bile in his throat, Lasky pulled Black's body out of the driver's seat.

Meanwhile, Chen continued to fire his Assault Rifle out at the darkness as a means of keeping whatever was there at bay. As he continued to shoot though, his glasses became skewed by the chaos of all the gunfire, and then a shot that narrowly missed him caused him to stumble. Forcing himself back up, Chen hurriedly fixed his glasses in place in time to see what it was that had been shooting at them all this whole time. They were the same black armored humanoids that killed Vickers, and now that Chen was vulnerable they were charging him. Much like Vickers before him, Chen never stood a chance. One of the black titans with a full-face covering helmet adorned with what resembled the horns of a gazelle produced a large ugly-looking sword and drove it into Chen's chest. He was killed instantly.

"CHEN!" Lasky shouted. Turning to him, the black armored figure aimed his sword at him. Suddenly the spikes around the main blade began to whir violently, and Lasky realized to his horror that the sword doubled as a chainsaw.

"You UNSC scum are no sport" the black armored man spat. "Pity. I was hoping for more of a fight. But it looks like we are now much too powerful for you fascists..."

The black armored man advanced as his two cohorts crowded around him to watch him butcher Lasky. But then several projectiles resembling shuriken ripped through the air and hit one of them in the back. He staggered for a moment before falling over dead. The other whipped around, and was mercilessly run through by what Lasky recognized as Endewan's bladed polearm. As the black titan collapsed with a resounding thud, Endewan spun around and confronted the one with the chainsaw sword, who readied his weapon menacingly.

"Strike a blow against me and you shall die" Endewan warned. The black armored brute didn't listen. With a shout of "For the Four Powers!" he went at Endewan. There was a silvery blur as blades cut through the air.

The black armored man's helmeted head bounced as it hit the ground, the gazelle horns severed at the stumps. The now decapitated body twisted and its legs buckled before collapsing.

Lasky just stared at the sight in shock. This was twice now that this Eldar had saved his life. And he'd done it effortlessly.

Endewan turned to him. "Still think they're just overtaxed farmers boy?" Endewan asked. Lasky was caught off-guard by this, and Endewan continued: "I have read your mind Thomas Lasky. Seen your thoughts, your memories, your past. All of it is an open book to a psychic such as myself. And I judge you to be a coward. You have not the spine to fight for your people against an enemy that seeks to destroy it. An enemy that has now wholly and willingly given themselves to the depravations of the Four Powers, enemies my people have been fighting against since before your race knew how to walk upright. Of all of your squad who I am protecting, you disappoint me the most"

Lasky said nothing in response to this, instead brooding over what Endewan had said. He'd heard some of it before, but other things were new information to him. The Four Powers and the Eldar were both forms of alien life, and he and the rest of his race were now caught in the crossfire of their eons long war. Truth be told Lasky found it all just a bit humbling, to have become privy to something that was much, much greater than himself. Too bad it was another war.

Lasky's attentions turned to the arrival of Orenski, Dmah, and Silva, with the latter carrying Sullivan along, with blood still coming out of his leg.

"He's been shot" Silva said with a gasp as she continued to haul him along.

"Yes, by a bolter pistol" Endewan observed. "He is lucky that it was a grazing shot. A direct hit would have obliterated his entire leg. I shall see what I can do to heal it"

Silva nodded and Endewan took Sullivan from her, applying treatment to the large gash in Sullivan's leg. Meanwhile, Orenski and Dimah's eyes fell upon the bodies of General Black and Junjie Chen.

"You will be missed General" Orenski said sadly. "You too Chen"

It was about then when Lasky managed to get the Warthog running. Silva and Orenski were the first to get on, with the former getting into the passenger seat. Orenski took the turret after getting Sullivan and Dimah into the back of the warthog.

"You're going to be OK Sullivan" Dimah said. Lasky turned to Endewan: "Where are you going to get in?" Lasky asked.

"Nowhere" Endewan said bluntly. "Don't worry. I move faster on my own. Now drive the damned vehicle and get you and your squad out of here!"

Lasky nodded and floored it. The Warthog's engines roared to life as the vehicle went zooming forward, with the membes of Hastati Squad getting knocked around as Lasky awkwardly tried to keep from overturning the warthog.

"Drive straight Lasky!" Orenski ordered.

"It's harder than it looks!" Lasky protested.

"You're doing fine" Silva assured him. "Just keep it steady!"

"Bear right" Endewan shouted as he continued to sprint after Hastati. "There's an exit right ahead"

Lasky did as he was told, driving the warthog down the directed path. As he did, one of the small aliens from before ran forward and turned to see Hastati's warthog driving towards them. The creature let out a yelp as the Warthog's front collided with the creature's body. The impact sent it hurtling into the air before it landed a good couple yards away.

"Faster ape!" Endewan shouted. "Four minutes to the evacuation spot. We have to get off the planet before the Covenant finishes glassing it!"

As Lasky nodded and pressed his foot down harder on the pedal, blue bolts of energy suddenly peppered the hood of the Warthog. Panicking, Lasky looked up and saw several of the aliens in sky blue armor with pink stripes he had seen earlier flying in on jetpacks, their weapons aimed at Hastati's warthog.

Endewan snarled a curse Lasky did not understand. "Elites, followers of Tzeentch from the looks of them. Keep your heads down and pray the Swooping Hawks show up!" As Endewan said this, he drew his shuriken pistol and fired out at the Elites. They halted their flight towards the speeding warthog and pulled back to dodge Endewan's gunfire. Not to be dissuaded, Endewan took aim at one of the Elite's jetpacks, the shuriken pistol round tearing through it and causing the Elite to spiral out of control before the jetpack exploded, frying the Elite's energy shields and scorching his armor, as well as condemning him to a messy death. As he fell, Endewan continued to fire out at the other Elites, who managed to fly out of the way of all of his shots.

Meanwhile, more of the small aliens with the breather masks and pink breastplates came out of the shadows and ran towards Hastati Squad's Warthog, along with lanky limbed abominations with pink skin, multiple arms, long blue tongues, and wicked grins. The things seemed to be gibbering and giggling, as if the coming battle was a great jest to them.

Spinning the Warthog's turret around to confront them, Orenski opened fire on both the short aliens and the pink horrors, cutting down several in a merciless torrent of bullets that tore some of the pink horrors to pieces. But this did not seem to dissuade the others at all, and they continues to sprint towards the Warthog with inane gibbering coming out of their misshapen mouths the whole time.

Endewan shot one of the pink horrors in the face with his shuriken pistol, felling it instantly. "Controlled bursts!" he shouted. "Do _**not**_ spray!"

Nodding, Silva and Dimah opened fire with their Assault Rifles as instructed, aiming for the pink horrors that continued to surge towards them.

"Lasky, Two o'clock!" Orenski shouted.

Lasky saw the pink crystalline projectiles coming in time to dodge out of the way, leaning near the passenger seat to avoid them. He shouted to Silva: "Chyler, cover me!"

Nodding, Silva stood up from her seat and fired out controlled bursts at the short little aliens who were shooting at them from a distance, hitting one and causing the others to panic and flee. As this happened, the aliens on jetpacks flew in for another go, raining blue bolts of energy down on Hastati's Warthog. A warning indicator flashed up on the Warthog's dashboard to indicate that it couldn't take much more punishment.

Then several shuriken pistol rounds tore through the air and one of the flying aliens was cut down. Looking up, Hastati and Endewan saw the Swooping Hawks fly in, shuriken pistols blazing. Two more of the flying aliens were shot dead, while the rest pulled back further and further to avoid the volley of throwing star bullets.

"Praise Khaine!" Endewan shouted. "Bahharoth and the Swooping Hawks have come!"

Indeed, the Swooping Hawks continued to push the flying aliens back more and more. Rocketing forward, Bahharoth drew his twin swords and made a sweeping "x" slash with them, decapitating one of the flying aliens and causing his now headless body to spiral out of control on its jetpack before collapsing. Other flying aliens were also cut down by Bahharoth's blades. Soon, all of the Covenant forces in both the air and on the ground were dead, with the small ones who had not died having long since fled into the darkness.

"I think we're clear" Orenski said.

"Agreed" Endewan said. "I'm going to send a telepathic message to Bahharoth, tell him and his Swooping Hawks to keep covering us while the fleet tracks our position for evac"

"Nice job by the way" Lasky said to Silva. She smiled. "Thanks"

But the victory was a short-lived one, as it was about then that one last pink horror burst out of the shadows and right into the Warthog, which promptly flattened it. Startled, Lasky stopped the Warthog, jerking everyone in it forward and causing Sullivan's bandaged leg to cry out in pain.

"Everyone okay?" Orenski asked.

Endewan finally caught up fully with the Warthog and after pausing for a few moments to catch his breath went over to Lasky and checked his wound.

"I'll apply some painkillers. Then I'll give you another injection of the fluid. That should allow you to walk."

As Endewan did this, Dimah stayed at Sullivan's side and tried to comfort him while Lasky tried in vain to start up the Warthog again.

"Come on, come on! Come on!"

Orenski scanned the forest surrounding Hastati squad. The sound of a tree branch being stepped on could be heard but no Covenant could be seen.

"_Bahharoth, what do you and the Swooping Hawks see_?" Endewan asked the Phoenix Lord telepathically.

"_Nothing from up here Endewan_" Bahharoth replied. "_But I'd stay on your toes all the same"_

Endewan nodded and then went back to tending to Sullivan's leg injury, Sullivan groaning softly as Endewan did what he could for him. Then, as the gibbering shrieks of the pink horrors began to fill the air, Silva said weakly: "Guys…I…I've been hit…"

Lasky stopped his attempts to get the Warthog started up again and turned to Silva, seeing that indeed she had been shot, with blood coming out of the side of her stomach.

"...Tom..." she said weakly.

"Shit…" Lasky turned to Orenski: "Do we have any biofoam?"

Orenski shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry Lasky…"

"It's nothing" Silva said, "just a scratch, I'll live…"

"There is blood coming out of your stomach!" Lasky said. "You're _not_ fine!"

"Wait!" Dimah shouted, getting everyone's attention. "There should be a med-kit in the Warthog. We can use that"

Wasting no time, Lasky punched open the compartments of the Warthog and sure enough, found a can of bio-foam along with other parts of a first aid kit. Grabbing the can, Lasky got to work applying bio-foam to Silva's injury, breathing a sigh of relief when Silva's breathing became less stertorous.

"Thank G-d…"

"Good job Dimah" Orenski said proudly. "I'll be rescinding that court martial recommendation once we get off this damned planet"

But the relief of the group was short lived as off in the distance, the shrieking of the pink horrors ceased and the sounds of footsteps rapidly moving _away _from Hastati could be heard.

"They're retreating." Orenski said. "Why would they do that now?"

"Because we're being hunted" Endewan replied bluntly. "Keep moving north. You'll see your ticket out of here. Run as fast as you can and do not stop for anything, including me"

Nodding, Lasky, Orenski, Silva, and Dimah all clambered out of the Warthog, with Dimah and Orenski helping pull Sullivan to his feet.

"Can you walk?" Dimah asked.

Sullivan nodded. "Yeah, I'll try" he wheezed.

A strange glow that was equal parts green, blue, and amethyst filtered through the trees, catching everyone's attention.

"What was that?" Dimah asked.

"Nothing good" Endewan said bluntly. "You all need to get out of here now. The evac point is close by…"

Endewan was interrupted when the source of the multi-colored glow burst out of the trees, knocking two over as it lumbered towards Hastati Squad.

"Holy shit!" Sullivan shouted in terror.

"Oh my G-d…" Silva whispered.

The alien was massive, and when it straightened up it completely and utterly dwarfed Endewan in size. It was covered in sky blue colored armor with random pink stripes just like the flying aliens from before, only this thing was easily over twice the size of those aliens. Over one arm it wore a massive steel-gray colored shield and in place of its other hand was what looked like a cannon, which seemed to glow faintly, with what looked almost like faint embers of blue and green burning dimly in the cannon's barrel. Finally, in the few exposed parts of the creature were patches of orange colored flesh that seemed to be almost moving, writhing as if it were a colony of small worm-like creatures…

"Fly you fools!" Endewan shouted at Hastati Squad, who promptly took off through the forest as a second one of the brutish things burst through the trees as well. Sullivan began to limp as the group continued to run.

"Sully, you still with us?" Dimah asked as she and Orenski continued to help him along.

"Yeah..." Sullivan wheezed.

"Hang in there Cadet" Orenski said. "I've lost too much of my squad already to let you die on me now"

Hastati's attentions turned to Endewan, who ran up to them, his sea blue armor now scorched and burned in several places. The crest on his helmet was also now mostly gone.

"I'm sorry" he said panting "...but I need your ammo. It took everything I had just to injure those damn things"

"We don't have anything left except for stun rounds" Orenski replied.

Stepping forward, Lasky pulled a frag grenade from his belt and handed it to the Eldar.

"…well I suppose its something" Eldrad conceded before saying: "Thank you. Now keep moving. Those behemoths are still out there. Hunters we call them"

Nodding, the members of Hastati sprinted through the forest. As they did, a torrent of fire that was equal parts green, blue, and amethyst tore through the forest, incinerating everything in its path and creating a multi-colored glow that would have been a beautiful sight if not for the lethality it represented.

"Keep moving!" Endewan shouted. "Those are eldritch flames. They'll burn you to nothing if they so much as touch you. Not even bones will remain"

Endewan sent out a telepathic signal to Bahharoth: "_My lord, we need more time. You must continue to give us support…_"

Then a massive form hit the ground and the situation became monumentally worse.

The impact of the thing that hit the earth sent out a massive ring of blue-colored fire that the members of Hastati were nearly caught in before they managed to take cover. Then, standing up amidst the blue inferno was a terrifying sight to behold. The creature was a tall and gaunt bird-like creature with lanky limbs. Each of its feet ended in three clawed toes, and his fingers were talons. It had large blackish-blue colored bird wings, and its head was like a cross between a vulture and a dragon, with a long, ugly crooked black beak, small sharp teeth, and a long tongue. It adorned its head with a golden helm and wore white robes over its torso with a golden belt that had a sapphire in its center. In its talons it held a long staff that was turquioise and gold and topped with a symbol that vaguely resembled a flame with a sapphire "eye" in the center.

"What…what is that?"

"The worst thing that could come our way" Endewan said grimly. "It is the greatest of Tzeentch's servants. It is a Lord of Change."

Endewan turned to the members of Hastati Squad: "I shouldn't be doing this, but I will engage this abomination for as long as I can. In the meantime you all must get to the evac point as fast as you can"

Lasky held out a hand and grabbed Endewan's arm: "Let me help you"

"Lasky, no!" Silva shouted horrified.

"You won't be able to do it alone" Lasky said resolutely. "I can help you"

"I seriously doubt that" Endewan said. He sent out a telepathic signal to Bahharoth: "_My lord, things just went from bad to worse…"_

"_I know Endewan, I can see it from here. I'm coming"_

Endewan nodded and turned to the members of Hastati Squad: "Lord Bahharoth and his Swooping Hawks are on their way. You need to go. NOW!"

But as Endewan shouted this, the Lord of Change finally located the group's position and shot a blue and indigo-colored blast of fire at them. The group moved in time just as the blue fireball collided with the trees they had been hiding behind. The fireball left nothing behind but a piece of charred earth.

"Run!" Endewan shouted before turning around and drawing his bladed polearm in one hand and his shuriken pistol in the other.

"Come to me hellspawn. I will send you back to your master"

Taking notice of the Eldar, the Lord of Change let out a squawk of anger before firing out another blast of blue and indigo-colored fire at Endewan. He rolled out of the way of the fires and shot at the Lord of Change a few times with his shuriken pistol. The Lord of Change conjured up a protective bubble of energy that the shuriken bounced off of harmlessly. The Lord of Change then shot out another blast of eldritch fire at Endewan, who once again rolled out of the way of the fireball.

As Endewan rose to his feet, he could see the two Hunters from before lumbering towards him, their armor still badly damaged from Endewan's last fight with them.

_So this is how I am to die… _Endewan thought grimly. _So be it. I won't die on my knees._

"For the Bloody Handed!" Endewan roared as The Lord of Change shot out a torrent of indigo-colored fire at him, followed swiftly by blasts of eldritch fire from the two Hunters. Dodging all of the flames as they incinerated entire chunks of the forest, Endewan kept moving as he tried to get close enough to the two hunters to finish what he had started.

Then a voice tore through the air: "AXIOS!"

Sprinting through the trees came Lasky, waving his arms to get the attention of the Hunters and their Daemon master. The first to spot him was the Lord of Change, who squawked in anger and fired out another blast of eldritch flame at him. The blast impacted behind Lasky, which sent him tumbling face-first into the dirt. Managing to force himself up in time, Lasky backpedaled through the woods. The Lord of Change was all set to incinerate him but fire from Endewan's shuriken pistol returned its attention to the Eldar. As it flew towards him on its wings it extended its free hand towards the direction Lasky was running to and ordered the Hunters to pursue him. The alien behemoths obeyed and trudged after Lasky. Holstering his shuriken pistol and priming the frag grenade Lasky had given him, Endewan ran towards the Hunters, one of whom spun around in time to strike him with his shield-arm. The impact knocked Endewan to the ground and ruined his helmet, prompting Endewan to tear it off.

As Endewan did this, he looked out and saw the Hunters unleash torrents of eldritch flames from their arm cannons, both aimed at Lasky. There was a fiery explosion of green, blue and amethyst as the flames collided with the mess of trees and foliage in their path, reducing both to ash.

"LASKY!" Silva shouted.

Running forward, Endewan climbed onto one of the Hunter's shield arms, disrupting the behemoth's aim. Before the Hunter could react, Endewan shoved the primed frag grenade into a patch of the Hunter's exposed orange flesh. Then he leaped off. The Hunters both turned to face him, but neither ever got to fire a shot.

The ensuing explosion was nothing short of spectacular. Pieces of the Hunter's orange worm-like flesh went flying in all directions along with the charred and burnt pieces of the Hunter's armor. Writhing orange worms splattered against Endewan's face and armor both but he didn't care. It was worth it just to see the Hunter felled in such a fashion.

For a moment the other Hunter was left stunned by the death of its comrade. Then with a roar, the Hunter ran at Endewan in a fury. Rolling out of the way as the Hunter brought its shield arm down, Endewan plunged his bladed polearm into a portion of exposed orange flesh and twisted as he stabbed the creature. The Hunter roared in pain before Endewan yanked the polearm out, causing orange-colored blood to spurt out from the wound. Ducking under the injured Hunter's clumsy swing, Endewan ran up the Hunter's back and with a roar of: "Death to the Four Powers!" plunged his polearm into the exposed flesh on the Hunter's already damaged back. The Hunter groaned in pain and flailed about for a moment before collapsing dead.

Squawking in rage, the Lord of Change shot out an amethyst-colored bolt of lightning at Endewan. The lightning collided with both the dead Hunter and Endewan, knocking him off the Hunter's back and causing ripples of agonizing pain to surge through his entire body. Endewan howled in pain and rage, his skin feeling like it was melting and his limbs unable to move.

The Lord of Change flew over to Endewan, its staff raised in one hand as in its other it conjured up a swirling ball of electricity and black smoke.

Endewan spat at it. "Burn forever Daemon filth" And then, with what strength he had left, grabbed his bladed polearm and swung it at the Lord of Change's legs, chopping off one of the abomination's feet.

The Lord of Change howled in pain as black blood spurted out of the stump, turning into pink colored embers as it collided with the earth. Such was the toxic nature of a Daemon's blood.

Flying up on its wings, the Lord of Change aimed its staff at Endewan, who rolled to avoid the blue fireball it shot out. Drawing his sword from his scabbard as he did, Endewan held both melee weapons menacingly before leaping at the Lord of Change. His sword and polearm's steel met the Lord of Change's staff with a resounding clang, with the Eldar Dire Avenger and servant of Tzeentch trading blow after blow in a struggle neither seemed to be able to win.

Then at last, from above, came the steel-gray form of Bahharoth, who with a roar, plunged both of his swords into the Lord of Change's back. The Daemon Lord let out a shrill cry of agony before Bahharoth pulled his two swords out and flew backwards. The Lord of Change flailed about, continuing to shriek in pain, before finally dropping its staff and then exploding in a bright blue explosion of energy. All that remained afterwards were feathers and faint dying pink embers.

As Bahharoth landed along with the rest of his Swooping Hawks, the Phoenix Lord helped Endewan to his feet.

"You have done well Endewan" Bahharoth said.

"Thank you my lord. But I did not do it alone."

"Lasky!" the voices of Silva, Orenski, Sullivan, and Dimah shouted. "Where's Lasky?"

Turning, Endewan helped the surviving Hastati Squad members try and find Lasky. Eventually, past a mess of charred, blackened ash that had once been vegetation, Silva found Lasky, his armor scorched and his legs missing.

"Oh my G-d…"

Tears streaming down her face, Silva ran to Lasky's side. He smiled weakly as he looked at her. "Chyler…"

"Hang in there Lasky, please" Silva pleaded. "Help will come, you just have to hold on…"

Lasky shook his head. "I can't do that Chyler. I'm sorry…"

"Don't leave me…" Silva pleaded.

"Finish this fight" Lasky said. "Promise me you'll finish this for the both of us…"

Silva nodded before whispering in a pained voice: "I love you"

"I love you too…"

And then, right before the darkness took him and he passed on to whatever world there was beyond the grave, Thomas Lasky smiled.

He was a soldier after all.

**Author's Note: Wow. How am I ever going to follow up on something that awesome? Well, I'll try. Next chapter will be a lot less action packed as the Eldar and humanity have a more formal first meeting.**

**I hope the Lord of Change didn't come off as too "weak". I tried to make him dangerous without him killing everyone without batting an eye. In any event, this will not be the last time a Lord of Change shows up. Not by a long shot.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter. There's more to come, don't worry. Much more. Hopefully it can be as good as this was…**


	5. Harvest

Chapter 4: Harvest

When Urban Holland learned he'd be part of humanity's first formal meeting with a new alien race, he was justifiably wary. With humanity currently engaged in fierce and bloody fighting with several alien races, the UNSC officer couldn't help but feel a little cynical about this new race that was apparently seeking an alliance with humanity.

Still, this race had already bailed out a couple different groups of UNSC forces that would have otherwise been annihilated by the Covenant, so if nothing else it was worth it to hear them out…with a hefty amount of security that is. After the disastrous first meeting with the Covenant on Harvest the UNSC were not taking any chances.

So with all of this, Holland was a little surprised to see just how…human the aliens were.

Physically they looked almost exactly like humans save for typically being taller and of a more lean build, and they also had slightly pointed ears. Many of them had unusual markings on their faces, which Holland assumed to be a cultural thing. There were seven of the aliens total, each one sporting the most elaborate and colorful armor Holland had ever seen.

Once the aliens and humans all sat down, the alien wearing black armor and a red cape spoke first, Holland noting that he and the massive one with the skeleton motif did not take their helmets off: "Greetings to you humans" he began. "I am Eldrad Ultran, chief of the Farseers of my people. With me are the Six Phoenix Lords. We are here to discuss an alliance with your race against the armies of monstrosities that threaten us all"

"Indeed…" began another of the UNSC representatives, Marneus Calgar, the legendary Grandmaster of the Ultramarines. "...we appreciate your willingness to pursue an alliance, but in light of our last first encounter with alien life, you will forgive us for being just a bit wary and cautious"

Eldrad nodded. "Of course. But I am confident that by the end of this discussion you will see that an alliance will be mutually beneficial to all involved"

"Perhaps" Marneus replied simply.

"I for one am curious as to how long you've been aware of our existence" said another of the UNSC representatives, Captain Jacob Keyes. "Clearly this "Covenant" has been observing us for some time, as they have broadcasted messages to us in perfect English. So how long have _you_ been watching us?"

"Long enough" Eldrad replied. "We learned of your existence about the same time the Covenant did, but they got to you first. That and many of my fellows were reluctant to pursue an alliance with your race until the rest of us were able to convince them, so unfortunately we are only just now approaching you. But it is with open arms and an extended hand of friendship"

The different UNSC representatives shared silent looks amongst themselves for a moment or two before turning back around to face the Eldar.

"What can you offer us if we choose to help you?" Jacob Keyes asked.

"Firepower for one thing" Eldrad replied. "Not to be offensive, but our weapons are, shall we say, a bit more advanced than yours by and large. And we've been fighting the Covenant and their unholy masters for a _**very **_long time, so we now everything there is to know about how they operate, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. That's valuable information to have is it not? If you are willing to work with us we will offer it to you freely."

After Eldrad finished his sentence the UNSC representatives began to whisper amongst themselves, unaware that Eldrad was able to read their minds and project their thoughts to the minds of the Phoenix Lords:

_They're making some pretty good offers, _Holland said. _I think we should trust them for now._

_I disagree _Marneus said. _It sounds too good to be true if you ask me. After what happened on Horizon I think we'd be fools to trust xenos so readily._

_We're going to have to give them an answer sooner or later _Jacob Keyes pointed out. _I think we should make the choice that doesn't involve making more enemies._

_I agree with Captain Keyes _said Vulkan Hestan, the legendary Forgefather of the Salamanders. _The enemy of our enemy should be our friend._

_Only a fool believes that _said Helbrecht, the High Marshal of the dreaded Black Templars.

_Let's just say yes for now. _Vulkan said._ If they betray us, we'll deal with that when it happens. For now let's take advantage of this offer of peace._

At last, the various UNSC representatives all turned to face Eldrad and the Phoenix Lords once more. Having listened in to their entire conversation the Eldar all knew full well what was coming.

"All right Eldar" Marneus said. "We're open to an alliance. You give us your men, weapons, and information, and we'll give you ours."

Eldrad smiled underneath his helmet. "A very wise choice humans. As our first gesture of friendship we'll send a few of our ships to your "Harvest" to help you retake it."

Marneus nodded in approval. "Much appreciated."

And with this exchange, a new alliance was forged against the Four Powers and the Covenant.  
-X-  
Harvest was hell.

A mere few months ago nothing could have been further from the truth, as the planet had the highest agricultural productivity rate of any UNSC colony and as such it was one their most vital planets concerning food and other resources. But ever since the Covenant had attacked the planet, Harvest had gone from one of the crown jewels of the UNSC to a constant warzone, one that the Covenant was gradually winning despite some early victories for the humans defending the planet.

Commander Dawson of the UNSC's Space Marines sighed deeply and rubbed his temples. He was coming along in years and as such was steadily losing the will to keep fighting. He still wore the bold red armor of a field commander proudly, and fought just as hard against the Covenant as the rest of his men, but more and more he found he was getting tired of fighting, having already spent a great many years battling Insurrectionists. He wanted to be able to retire, live a little. But the Covenant had put those plans of retirement on hold.

"Commander, we're losing our position on the eastern shores." came the voice of Commander Dawson's second Sergeant Baxter. "Reports are coming in that monsters are reinforcing the Covenant battalions."

"The Covenant _are _monsters" Commander Dawson replied gruffly. "What are these newcomers?"

"Reports tend to be a bit contradictory, but the general idea is they're vaguely feminine and have, to quote one report's words: "Crab claws". The men have taken to calling them: "Succubus"

"I see" Commander Dawson replied laconically. "Can we spare anyone?"

Sergeant Baxter shook his head. "Negative. We're coming under heavy attack all over the planet and the defenses are only just barely holding. If we spare anyone to reinforce the eastern shores we'll lose other positions in an instant" Sergeant Baxter snapped his fingers to emphasize his point.

Commander Dawson growled. "Damn Covenant. There's too many of the bastards and too few of us. Where the hell are the Gray Knights when you need them?"

"I believe they're currently reinforcing the farms the Covenant haven't destroyed yet" Sergeant Baxter replied. "Reports say they're struggling and cannot leave their positions."

"You wouldn't happen to have any good news for a change would you?" Commander Dawson asked Sergeant Baxter with just a touch of hostile sarcasm.

"Actually yes, I do. I just got word from the Brass. Negotiations with the new Xeno race were a success. The "Eldar" they're called, are sending a few ships to Harvest as reinforcements as we speak."

"So we've got some xenos on _our_ side now do we?" Commander Dawson asked. "So be it. I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, mandibles, or whatever it is these things have. When can we expect their arrival?"

"Very shortly sir. I think we should get ready for them"

Commander Dawson nodded. "Yes, lets. I'll meet them out at the airfield"

When the Eldar ships arrived, they immediately made their presence known by obliterating several of the Covenant vessels orbiting Harvest. Commander Dawson sent out a message to the Eldar ships telling them to land at his base's airfield. As he saw them in action in space, Dawson was privately impressed and awed by the size, shape, and aesthetic of the Eldar's ships. Truth be told he found them much more impressive looking than the crude, ugly giant slabs of metal that Dawson had been serving on for his entire career in the UNSC.

While most of the Eldar vessels stayed in space fighting the Covenant fleet orbiting Horizon, one went to the coordinates Commander Dawson had given them and touched down on the airfield. Out of the ship came several squads of humanoid figures clad from head to toe in armor that was either sea blue or a red identical to the color of Commander Dawson's armor. They all wore over their heads white cone shaped helmets and covered their faces completely with black faceplates. One of the red armored ones, with a sword slung over his back, a half-cape that was a violet purple, and a majestic black and white crest atop his helmet, walked up to Commander Dawson.

"Are you the leader of this facility?" the Eldar asked.

"I am" Dawson replied matter-of-factly before adding: "Commander Richard A. Dawson of the UNSC Space Marines"

"Greetings" the Eldar responded laconically. "I am Tevras, of the Eldar Guardians. We could see the fires from space. The Covenant and their masters have made steady progress in scorching this planet"

"Yeah, no kidding. We're kind of hoping you and your boys can help us out with that"

"We shall do more than that. We will help you beat these abominations and their minions back into the abyss"

"I'm fine with that" Commander Dawson said before taking a look at the other Eldar. "Are these all of your troops?"

Tevras nodded.

"Seems a bit understaffed..."

"I wager any one of my men behind me has killed more Covenant and Daemons of Chaos in one firefight than you will in the next five of your race's years.

"So why do you even need us?" Commander Dawson replied.

Tevras shrugged. "Our numbers are not what they once were. Essentially what it comes down to is that you need better weapons and people who know your enemy, and we need more men, so this is a mutually beneficial partnership."

"Is that a fact? Well it just so happens I have a place I'd like you and the other boys in red to go. I've got a location for the ones in blue as well"  
-X-  
"Hold the beach!" shouted the squad leader of the Space Marines still defending the eastern shores. Despite fighting hard, the Space Marines were rapidly getting pushed back more and more as the Covenant forces continued surged forward in an all but unstoppable and seemingly never-ending tide of black and amethyst.

The Grunts went down easily enough, but they were also numerous and prone to throwing plasma grenades that had already killed more Space Marines than anything else. The Jackals were also very physically weak, but their energy shields were highly resistant to ballistic weaponry, forcing the Space Marines to kill them with either grenades or alternatively just bashing their avian heads in with the butt ends of their assault rifles. Only a few of the Space Marines had the marksmanship skills needed to shoot the Jackals in areas their shields didn't protect them, or alternatively to shoot them in the split-second their heads or bodies were exposed.

But the most dangerous of all were the Elites, clad in amethyst colored armor with black stripes, they were few in number compared to the Grunts and Jackals, but one on one, they always killed the Space Marines. And even together the Space Marines still struggled to take them down, as they were faster and stronger than humans, and also armed themselves with strange blue colored guns that tore through the Space Marines light armor with ease. A few of the bluish-white bolts of energy usually succeeded in killing the Space Marines.

But for all of this, the defenses of the eastern shores had been just about holding, same as every other part of the planet still under UNSC control, if only because the Space Marines had enough men to lose. But now that their numbers had thinned considerably, the Space Marines were being forced back more and more to keep from suffering casualties they could afford. And then the army of Elites, Grunts, and Jackals assaulting the eastern shores got some back-up.

Physically they resembled female humans, but there were a good many things about them that made them decidedly _**not **_human. For one the black and purple claws they had in place of human hands, resembling the pincers of both a crab and a scorpion. In place of human feet they had black feet with an arch ending in a spiked heel and sole and with two claws each in place of toes. Their legs and arms were bare and any that covered their torsos wore a black breasplate with a gold trim and a black loincloth with a strange purple design on the front. Their eyes were glowing light blue and pupilless, their mouths were filled with sharp rat-like teeth, and any hair they had was always a greasy black.

In all they were immensely ugly-looking creatures, and also looked rather out of place alongside the Elites, Jackals, and Grunts. But for all of that they immediately made an impact on the battlefield as they surged forward and soaked up most of the Space Marine's gunfire, which allowed more Grunts, Jackals, and Elites to advance and push the Space Marines back even more. And any of the feminine monsters that got close to a Space Marine would viciously and mercilessly tear him to pieces with her claws, her dry, lipless mouth forming a sadistic smile as she did.

After these monsters showed up the Space Marines found themselves losing ground fast as the distraction the creatures provided allowed more and more Covenant to advance relatively unhindered, where they wrecked havoc on the Space Marine forces. As the fighting continued Space Marines were steadily cut down in droves while the Covenant forces suffered comparatively minimal casualties. Eventually, the few surviving Space Marines were forced up into a tight cluster that was quickly becoming surrounded on all sides by the Covenant forces.

But then, rocketing forward onto the scene were sleek blood red vehicles with arrow-shaped hoods adorned with both black stripes and a large white serpent. On the back of each one was a large turret that a black armored Eldar with a red snake on his white cone-shaped helmet sat in, raining heavy fire down on the Covenant and Daemon forces out of a long black barrel shaped like a medieval lance. In all, the appearance of the vehicles reminded the beleaguered Space Marines of their Warthogs, but far more technologically advanced, moving not by wheels but propulsors that saw them hovering over the ground, and firing out powerful laser blasts instead of bullets.

The torrent of fire from the vehicle's cannons cut down scores of Covenant and Daemons, with both too caught off-guard by the surprise attack to react in time. Taking advantage of their surprise, the remaining humans opened fire on them with renewed determination, and between them and the alien vehicles, none of the Covenant or Daemons were left standing.

As the dust settled, the surviving marines saw several lithe, red armored humanoids making their way towards them as one of the red vehicle's gunner stepped out of his turret to address the space marines: "Don't shoot at them. We're on your side"

"Who are you?" one of the surviving Space Marines asked.

"Eldar. We have entered an alliance with your race against the Covenant"

"So...you're xenos? And you're on our side?"

"Isn't that what I just said?" the gunner asked in a condescending tone before adding: "Prepare yourselves primitives. There will be much more fighting before the day is done"  
-X-  
"Die monsters!" one of the Gray Knights shouted as he swung out his blue sword. The blade collided with the neck of one of the Succubus, sending her head flying off her shoulders. Black blood spurted out of the stump before the whole body was consumed and incinerated by amethyst colored fire. Growling with grim satisfaction, the Gray Knight swung his sword out again and decapitated two grunts in the same swing. Behind him his fellows continued to fire out at the mess of Grunts, Jackals, Succubus, and Elites that were hitting them with everything they had.

"Protect the farms!" shouted Captain Munroe. "Do _**not **_let these monsters destroy them!"

As he said this Captain Munroe gunned down several more Grunts and Jackals as they came within sight of his DMR, each round finding its target in one of the aliens' heads. It was also quite adept at taking down the Succubus and Elites even though they were a bit more resistant.

By this point the Gray Knights had caught on to the fact that the Elites and Jackals energy shields were, for all their high resistance to bullets extremely vulnerable to melee attacks, and many of the Gray Knight's iconic blue swords were covered in the purple blood of the two alien races.

A Succubus caught Donald's arm in its pincers but Donald pumped it full of assault rifle fire before it could take his head off. As the succubus fell down dead, Donald switched to his DMR and peppered several Elites shields with fire before finally dispelling them all together. One final shot to the head for each Elite was all it took to take them down after that.

But as the Gray Knights continued to fight off the Covenant forces, more Elites arrived, and these ones came in riding purple colored vehicles that hovered above the ground, had a massive rounded hood, and twin plasma cannons that managed to cut through even the Gray Knight's armor. Any Gray Knight that was rammed by one of the vehicles was also killed instantly.

"Destroy those vehicles!" Captain Munroe shouted before he himself was hit by one. The impact of the alien vehicle ramming into him gave a sickening crunch and sent him briefly flying into the air before he collapsed and lay still.

"Captain!" Donald shouted. Turning to the vehicle, Donald threw a stolen plasma grenade that managed to stick itself to the Elite driver's head. One bright blue explosions later and Captain Munroe was avenged.

"The captain is down!" Donald shouted. "I repeat, the captain is down!"

Upon hearing of their captain's death, the remaining Gray Knights were thrown into a frenzy, and the remaining Covenant ground troops were massacred as the Gray Knights threw themselves at them without quarter, tearing through shields and armor with equal ease and pumping the aliens' bodies full of bullets or alternatively cutting them to ribbons with their swords. The alien vehicles still remained, peppering the Gray Knights with plasma fire and ramming into others, but then shuriken zipped through the air and embedded themselves in the Elite driver's heads, killing them and causing them to tumble out of their vehicles. Turning to the source, the Gray Knights saw the Eldar Dire Avengers sent to their position arrive.

"Looks like we just got rescued by the friendly xenos again boys" Donald said. "Don't shoot them."

Once the Dire Avengers reached the Gray Knight's position, Donald walked up to them: "I'm glad you guys are here. We're being hit hard and our captain's dead. We could definitely use some more manpower"

The Dire Avenger squad leader nodded simply before saying: "We should move out now. It is not safe to remain here"

Donald shook his head. "No. We need to protect these farms. They're valuable resources and we can't afford to lose anymore"

The Dire Avenger squad leader nodded. "Very well. We shall help you defend them. But be warned: the hordes of Slaanesh contain fouler and more dangerous things than what you've seen so far."

"Really? Like what?"

An unholy howl tore through the air. Turning to the source of it, the Gray Knights and Dire Avengers saw a large white-skinned monster vaguely resembling a moose standing upright, but with four arms, two human and two giant crab-like claws like the ones the Succubus had. Its skin was adorned with gaudy gold jewelry and piercings and in one of its hands it held a massive sword with a strange symbol in gold at the bottom of the guard.

"Like that"  
-X-  
With the Eldar Guardians and their vehicles having now arrived to replace the fallen Space Marines, the remaining ones were able to stand firm as more Covenant appeared on the horizon. With a roar, the sea of black and amethyst armored aliens and Daemons surged forward with only one desire, and the Humans and Eldar met them with volleys of bullets, shuriken, and lasers. The Eldar Vyper Jetbikes performed lightning fast drive-by attacks on the encroaching Covenant hordes, thinning their ranks and keeping them under pressure as the remaining Space Marines and Eldar Guardians continued to shoot at them from the front. At first, this strategy succeeded in killing scores of Covenant, but then Covenant vehicles arrived on the scene and engaged the Vyper Jetbikes, forcing them to pull back and return fire as the Covenant ground troops continued to advance towards the Space Marines and Eldar Guardians. As they could no longer afford to suffer anymore losses, the Space Marines positioned themselves behind the Eldar Guardians, who took the brunt of the Covenant's punishment, but also dished out just as much, firing volley after volley of shuriken from their guns that cut through energy shields, pierced armor, and tore through flesh in equal measure.

"For the Bloody-Handed!" Tevras shouted as wave after wave of Grunts, Jackals, Succubus, and Elites fell to the Guardians and their human allies.

But then, slowly making its way towards the Eldar and Humans was a large dark blue tank-like vehicle with a rounded hood and an Elite manning a turret.

"Scatter!" shouted Tevras. The Guardians all dispersed, and most of the humans caught on and followed suit. The two that did not were promptly blown away by a massive indigo-blue colored blast of plasma energy from the Covenant tank's cannon.

"Destroy that Wraith!" shouted Tevras. "Destroy it at all costs!"

Hearing his command, the Vyper Jetbikes all directed their fire on the Wraith, but its bulky blue form was able to absorb a distressing amount of damage before the vehicle finally exploded in a brilliant blue explosion accompanied by a shower of sparks. By that point the Covenant and Daemon forces had closed in fully on the Eldar and Space Marines.

"Kill them all!" shouted Tevras as he drew his Witchblade from his scabbard and sent an Elite's head flying off its shoulders with it. Behind him his men unleashed a withering hail of shuriken from their guns, but the Covenant still had numbers enough to smash right into the Eldar, causing desperate hand-to-hand fighting to ensue.

What followed was a sight that would make both Khaine and Khorne beam with pride. Eldar, Humans, Covenant, and Daemons all fought fiercely and without quarter, with ammunition of all kinds flying in every direction and bodies piling up on both sides. The Vyper Jet-Bikes provided support fire for the Eldar and Space Marines, but the Covenant had numbers to spare. In the end though quality outweighed quantity and the members of Tevras's Guardian Squad did indeed each kill more Covenant and Daemonettes of Slaanesh in that one firefight than Commander Dawson would in the next five years that would be the known afterwards as "The Harvest Campaign".

Finally, the carnage at last ceased and the air grew quiet as the last Elite fell to the ground dead courtesy of being run through by Tevras' Witchblade, which was now drenched in purple and blue blood from all the Covenant he had killed with it. As the last Elite perished, Tevras and the other surviving soldiers dared to let out a sigh of relief.

"I think the eastern shores are secure for now..." one of the few surviving Space Marines said weakly.

Tevras nodded. "Yes. For now."  
-X-  
With one last echoing roar, the massive white skinned beast at last staggered and flailed about before collapsing with a resounding thud. As it hit the ground, some of the surviving Eldar and Space Marines cheered or let out sighs of relief, as the monster had taken an inordinate amount of punishment before finally perishing. Many of the Gray Knights and Dire Avengers had expended every last bullet and shuriken in all of their guns before the thing had finally perished. No sooner did its body hit the ground, it was consumed in the same amethyst flames that consumed Daemonettes after death and reduced to ashes in seconds.

"They certainly burn quickly" one of the few surviving Gray Knights quipped.

"All demons are consumed in the hellfire that spawned them after death" one of the surviving Dire Avengers said. "Keepers of Secrets are no different"

"So that's what you call these things eh? I thought "big ugly moose-headed monster" sounded better, but that's just me"

"There is no time for stupid jokes human" another Dire Avenger said. "The fight for this planet is far from over, and so is the war. You primitives may not realize it yet, but you've just entered the greatest war our galaxy has ever known"


	6. Relic

Chapter 5: Artifact

The fight to retake Harvest was finally over.

After five long, miserable, bloody years, the hordes of Slaanesh had finally been driven off the planet, which was now mostly a scorched ruin anyway. But nevertheless it was humanity's once again.

Watching the planet from space, Donald, now a commander of the Gray Knights felt a sense of melancholy and more than that, defeat. Looking out at the mostly blackened husk the once proud farming planet had been reduced to, Donald felt that the armies of the UNIM had failed in their mission. The Covenant had killed Harvest, and Donald wondered for a moment if perhaps the planet was really worth winning at all in its current state. But he quickly dismissed such thoughts. Harvest _**was **_worth it. Crops could be regrown, farms repaired. What mattered was that humanity had not lost one of their crown jewels, and that alone was worth every last drop of blood that had been shed in its defense. Or so Donald continued to tell himself.

"You're feeling it too aren't you?" an older but strong voice asked. Donald turned to see the now Colonel Dawson walk up to him, the bold red armor he had worn as a field commander replaced with the more modest gray uniform of a non-combatant officer. Now that he was in his sixties, Dawson's combat days were very much behind him.

Dawson walked next to Donald and stared down at Harvest with him. "Not much to look at anymore is it?" Dawson asked. Donald shook his head. "No, its not. But even if its a mostly scorched rock now, its _**our **_scorched rock."

"Indeed. I'm just glad to finally see the Covenant off of it..."

For a moment, the two old soldiers just stared out at Harvest in silence, until the voice of the ship's AI Serina came on: "Colonel Dawson, Commander Donald, your presence is requested on the bridge. You're receiving a message from the Admiralty Board"

"Understood. We'll be there" Dawson then turned to Donald: "Conversation with the big boys? Must be to congratulate us for finally getting the damn Covenant off Harvest"

The Admiralty Board was the name given to the group of twelve immensely powerful beings who were the leaders of twelve of the thirteen elite Space Marine chapters. After a set period of time in service to the UNIM as a basic Space Marine, or after going through special schooling and training, individuals in the UNIM military would choose to become part of one of the twelve specialized Space Marine groups. The thirteenth however, was off-limits to almost everyone, with only a select few individuals chosen by ONI being made members.

The leaders were Azrael of the Dark Angels, Kaldor Draigo of the Gray Knights, Logan Grimnar of the Space Wolves, Marneus Calgar of the Ultramarines, Dante of the Blood Angels, Helbrecht of the Black Templars, Pedro Kantor of the Crimson Fists, Vulkan He'stan of the Salamanders, Gabriel Angelos of the Blood Ravens, Vladamir Pugh of the Imperial Fists, Jubal Khan of the White Scars, and Kayvaan Shrike of the Raven Guard. Every last one of them was a highly decorated war hero and a veteran of a dozen battles. Outfitted with the absolute best armor, weapons, and strength-enhancing cybernetics and implants that could be offered, they were in every way the very best humanity had to offer in terms of warriors, each one capable of wiping out whole Covenant and Daemon squads single-handed without breaking a sweat. They were also more than capable as commanders, and whenever they made a decision, there was not a soul in the UNIM who didn't obey. Thus Colonel Dawson and Commander Donald both knew better than to keep them waiting.

Making their way up to the bridge of _The Spirit of Fire, _they were just in time to see the image of the twelve imposing armored titans sitting in their chairs around a massive circular table bearing the UNIM's symbol of a two-headed eagle. Each of their chairs was also emblazoned with the logo of their respective chapter.

"Greetings Colonel Dawson, Commander Donald" Marneus Calgar said. "Congratulations on re-taking Harvest"

"Thank you sir" Colonel Dawson replied with a sharp salute before adding: "...but somehow I don't think the purpose of this is a simple congratulation..."

Marneus shook his head. "No, it is not. The Admiralty Board has a mission to give you and _The Spirit of Fire's _crew."

"What kind of mission Chapter Masters?" Donald asked.

Kaldor Draigo turned to Donald to address him specifically: "Ah, Commander Donald. It is good to know that a decorated Gray Knight will be a part of this..."

"Which is...?" Dawson asked.

Helbrecht was the next to speak: "About a week ago, Imperial Fists forces on Acradia under the command of Captain Darnath Lysander discovered some unusual ruins in the frozen northern hemisphere. They're definitely not human, but they can't be Covenant either, so that means they predate both sides and point to a civilization that was here long before ours. We want _The Spirit of Fire's _crew to secure those ruins while a science team led by Doctor Ellen Anders investigates."

"All due respect Chapter Masters, but that sounds like something the Imperial Fists there can do on their own"

"The Imperial Fists on Arcadia were hit hard recently, and they still haven't fully recovered" Vulkan He'stan said. "Not only that but if the Covenant show up, we want those ruins to be as secure as possible"

"So you're sending us?"

Vulkan He'stan nodded wordlessly as Kaldor Draigo spoke again: "_The Spirit Of Fire _is one of our biggest and best ships available right now, and we could learn very valuable information from those ruins. So we're not sparing any expenses."

Colonel Dawson and Commander Donald both saluted as the former said: "Understood Chapter Masters. We'll be at Arcadia as soon as possible"

"See to it that you are" Helbrecht said bluntly before adding: "And one more thing: The Eldar are sending some of their forces to the ruins as well, as they're insisting quite passionately that we don't realize what we're dealing with. So expect an Eldar convoy to arrive as well"

"Understood High Marshal Helbrecht" Colonel Dawson replied.

"Then go forth" Marneus Calgar ordered "And the best of fortunes to all of you"

And as Marneus said this, the image of him and the other eleven chapter masters disappeared and Colonel Dawson ordered _The Spirit of Fire _to set a course for Arcadia.  
-X-  
"I grow tired of all this waiting" The Arbiter growled as he looked out at the viewport of the Covenant vessel he was currently stuck on. As a devoted follower of the Blood God, Ripa 'Moramee had no patience for the ridiculously convoluted schemes and tip-toeing around direct conflict that the human Chaos Lord he was partnered with so stubbornly insisted on.

"I am in agreement with the Arbiter on this" snarled the Elite Zealot in charge, Bale 'Torvasree. Lord Bale was almost as notorious for being a bloodlusted fiend as Ripa was, and the particularly sharp teeth in his mandibles and the countless burn scars on his head were both testament to the ferocity he had hones into a lethal weapon during his lifetime of service to the Four Powers.

"Patience my friends" Sindri replied in his deceptively soothing and calm voice. Sindri was one of the greatest of the humans who had pledged themselves to the Four Powers, and in Sindri's case the Lord of Change Tzeentch. Physically he differed greatly from most of the other Chaos Space Marines. He wore a steel-blue colored breastplate over dark blue robes, and covered his face with a sinister-looking steel-gray helmet with blood red eyes and adorned with an elaborate headdress. He covered his arms with large blue shoulder pauldrons and past that blue gauntlets worn over black gloves. Finally, his shoulders were adorned with an apparatus designed to resemble two mechanical serpents facing in opposite directions. In his hands he held a staff that more than anything else showed his devotion to Tzeentch, and strapped to his belt was a Bolter Pistol.

But though he carried these weapons, Sindri's greatest strengths were his mind and his magics, neither thing being a weapon the followers of Khorne held in a terribly high regard. That Sindri was a human just made listening to him and being forced to follow his way of doing things all the more infuriating for both the Arbiter and Bale, for though as Arbiter and a Zealot they were meant to be servants of Chaos Undivided, at heart, both were true servants of Khorne.

"You always say "patience" Bale snarled through his mandibles. "Patience is _**not **_the way of Chaos!"

"It is for those of us who serve the Lord of Change" Sindri replied in that same deceptively calm and civilized tone, as though he and Bale were two gentlemen talking over tea and crumpets. "And besides my Lord, have I not consistently been shown to know what I'm doing? And have my, I believe to use the Arbiter's words "nonsensical schemes" always led to victory for your glorious fleet?"

Bale huffed indignantly but nevertheless nodded. "Yes, it is true. Your scheming ways _**have **_gotten much blood for the Blood God, and many skulls for the Skull Throne, but still. This hiding in the shadows irritates me. If we demonstrate our superior power, those wretched primitives and disgusting Eldar would both kneel before us in an instant"

Sindri shook his head and chuckled lightly. "Oh don't be silly Lord Bale. You cannot intimidate that which has no fear, and the Eldar do not fear us. Or perhaps I should say they _**do **_fear us to a point, but their hatred of us and desire to stop us at any cost far outweighs and overwhelms whatever fear they may feel"

Lord Bale scoffed at this. "Then the Eldar are fools. I will grind their soulstones into powder in my hands."

"I have no doubt Lord Bale" Sindri said. "But nevertheless, fear is not a viable weapon in this battle. Just follow my lead and I assure you that you will have more Soulstones for your collection before all is said and done"

By this point, Ripa tuned out the continued conversation between Sindri and Bale. He agreed with Lord Bale and also despised Sindri, but as the Arbiter he had no place in challenging a high-ranking figure like him, and thus he kept silent. Just thinking about how he had to kowtow to a human, and not only that, but a human who served Tzeentch made him grind the teeth of his mandibles against each other so hard he was surprised they didn't shatter. Any true follower of Khorne knew that Tzeentch and his ilk were cowards not fit to call themselves warrior of Chaos. But again, as the Arbiter he had authority to challenge Sindri unless given the consent of a superior, such as Lord Bale. For a moment Ripa fantasized being given such consent and then tearing Sindri apart with his bare hands, but he returned to reality when he heard the helmsman on the bridge speak up: "Lord Bale, we have arrived at the human planet"

"Excellent" Bale turned to Sindri. "Alright Sindri. We'll do things your way for now. But I want those ruins secured before the day is done!"

Sindri bowed respectfully. "Of course Lord Bale. I do _so_ aim to please"  
-X-  
When _The Spirit of Fire _arrived at Arcadia, they found that the Imperial Fists led by Captain Lysander were already outside waiting for them. Colonel Dawson and Commander Donald both went out to meet them.

"Welcome to Arcadia Colonel Dawson." Lysander said as he took Dawson's hand in his own and shook it fiercely. " We've all heard about how you've finally driven those Covenant bastards off of Harvest. You have our utmost respect"

Colonel Dawson nodded silently. Lysander then stepped to the side to show a younger man clad in the same yellow armor of the Imperial Fists. He was bald, and looked to be in his mid-forties or so. Notably, he had an ace playing card attached to one of his shoulder pauldrons. Holstered on his back was a shotgun and on his side the standard magnum.

"This is my second Sergeant John Forge. A good soldier. He's led most of the efforts here on Arcadia."

"Pleasure" Forge said laconically before adding: "So what are you all here for?"

"We've been tasked by the Admiralty Board to make sure those ruins that were found here recently don't get shelled by the Covenant."

"The ruins? I already have a few men stationed there, but definitely less than the scientists would want." Lysander nodded in approval before finishing: "I'll let them know you're coming"

"That would be much appreciated" Colonel Dawson said before adding: "We're expecting some Eldar as well. They're also interested in the ruins apparently."

"We'll keep our eyes peeled" Sergeant Forge assured Dawson and Donald before adding: "I haven't actually seen an Eldar before. Looks like this will be my first time..."  
-X-  
"Fascinating..." one of the scientists whispered in awe as he continued to examine the inscriptions on the walls he was staring at.

"You've said that at least ten times now" Ellen Anders replied in a deadpan.

"I can't help it Ellen, this is incredible! We've just discovered the remains of an entirely new sentient species! Think of the implications..."

"I am" Anders replied before adding: "I'm just a bit less vocal about it"

"Tease me all you want, I know you're just as into this as I am"

As the two scientists continued their work, a voice called to them from outside the ruins: "Hey guys! We got company! You're gonna want to come out and see this!"

Stopping their work and going outside, Ellen Anders and her colleagues were greeted with the sight of a massive UNIM cruiser hovering over the ruins before landing not far from its location. Out of the ship came several squads of Gray Knights, Salamanders, and basic Space Marines. One of each of the former two walked up to the group of scientists.

"I am Commander Donald Patrokolos of the Gray Knights, this is Sergeant Alexander Klaus of the Salamanders" Donald said. "We've been sent to these ruins by the Admiralty Board to stand guard over them and protect them in the event of a Covenant attack"

"We know" Ellen Anders replied, looking at the small army of armored men in front of her. "We've been getting reports of Covenant activity in the sector, and the Imperial Fists have had to fight them off Arcadia a few times now. If they want the ruins here, then I suspect its because of the relic"

"Relic?"

Ellen Anders nodded. "Follow me inside and I'll explain"

Commander Donald nodded before turning to his men and ordering them to stand watch. Donald and Alexander then followed Ellen Anders and her fellow scientists inside the ruins, where she directed them to a massive chamber that was illuminated with teal-colored lights. In the center was a large pit that also glowed with a teal-colored light, and hanging above it was a massive piece of machinery. In the gap between these two pieces of technology was a three-dimensional display of what Donald and Alexander recognized as stars.

"Amazing isn't it?" Ellen Anders asked. "It's a map of the Milky Way Galaxy, just sitting there waiting to be found and reactivated. Whatever race made this…they must have been incredibly advanced, at_ least_ as advanced as the UNIM is…"

"And you think the Covenant will want this?" Donald asked.

"Sure. Its got the location of every one of the inner colonies. Not only that, but there's also this…" Walking up to the starmap, Ellen Anders pointed to the image of a small ring floating in space, and then pointed to six others placed in different parts of the Milky Way.

"Whatever these rings are, they were important to whoever built this place. Whenever we've tried to learn more about them, the starmap shuts us out. It won't let us read about them, says they're "classified". There's also some kind of record attached to this map too. I've been trying to read its contents, but in addition to the security measures its in a language I don't recognize. Decoding it could take years at the shortest"

"Sounds pretty useless to me" Alexander said. "I mean if you can't read a book or a map what good is it?"

"For all we know the Covenant might be better at decrypting stuff like this than we are. They're certainly more technologically advanced then us in terms of weapons and ships…"

"I somehow doubt that those monsters that shout "Blood for the Blood God, Skulls for the Skull Throne" over and over again are going to be translating languages…" Alexander said in a deadpan

"Humans!"

Donald, Alexander, and Ellen Anders all turned around to see that a group of Eldar had entered the room. The one in front had a lithe build and wore light forest green colored robes with a long blood red sash with glowing white characters on it draping down in front of the robes. The sash came down from a red clasp shaped like a downward facing triangle that had a ruby in the center of it. Over the main forest green robes the Eldar wore a white breastplate and covered her arms and hands with white colored armor save for a part of the vambraces that were the same light forest green of her robes. Over her shoulders she wore a pale green cape with a border that was a darker green and decorated with the same glowing white characters as the ones on her sash, and she covered her face completely with a white cone-shaped helmet resembling a frowning old woman and decorated with two glowing red jewels. Finally, in her hands she held a long staff that was topped with three prongs, almost resembling a trident or pitch-fork.

"I am Farseer Macha" the Eldar said in a commanding and no-nonsense tone. "And what you are looking at is a warmap from an age long past. One that we Eldar believe we are directly descended from. So step aside please. Only a Farseer of my caliber can access this relic's contents in full"

"Is that a fact?" Ellen Anders replied. "Alright lady, give it your best shot. Its not like I haven't already spent a good couple hours trying to access it myself"

Farseer Macha strode forward with a grace and authority that spoke both of her incredible power and also her arrogance. Extending a hand, Macha interacted with the starmap with incredible speed, her fingers moving in a lightning fast blur. But the barriers that had prevented Ellen Anders from delving deeper into the relic's contents and secrets were not present for Macha, for the relic bathed her in a neon-green light that seemed to scan her before ceasing and allowing Macha further access. For a few moments she stood there and absorbed the relic's contents. Then, she turned to face Anders, Donald, and Alexander.

"It is as I suspected…this relic…this place…it contains information on the Great War"

"The "_Great War_?"

"Yes. An apocalyptic turn of events that wiped our ancestors out. The first ever war with the Four Powers, back when there was but three of them, and the Lord of Decay was at his most powerful. My people have always searched for places like these, looking for information The Forerunners left behind, to see if there was anything we could use in our own war with Chaos…"

"Well, that's all very interesting, but we don't know who the Forerunners are."

"Of course you don't. No one but the Eldar do. Us and their killers the Four Powers…"

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of a deafening boom that echoed throughout the ruins before being followed by another loud boom. The room shook violently, and outside rubble from the upper levels of the ruins began to fall down upon the scientists occupying the lower levels.

"What the hell was that?"

"It's the Force of Chaos" Macha said gravely. "They're here"

"Then it's a good thing we came" Donald observed before turning to Ellen Anders: "Stay behind us and the Eldar ma'am."

Macha turned to her accompanying farseers. "Stay close to me by brothers and sisters. The Forces of Chaos are here for the artifact. Defend it with your lives!"

Within the other parts of the ruins, Elites and Grunts alike disengaged their active camouflage and wasted little time cutting down the hapless scientists to be found within the ruins hallways before making their way to the room the relic was stored in. They were greeted with a several torrents of electricity from the fingertips of the Eldar Farseers that fried their energy shields, scorched their armor, and melted their flesh. Not to be deterred so easily, the remaining Elites and Grunts swarmed in, causing the room to erupt in a cacophony of gunshots, screams, explosions, and the crackling electricity of the Eldar Farseers.

As the battle began, Donald radioed _The Spirit of Fire: _"Attention UNIM cruiser _Spirit of Fire, _we are in the ruins and are under attack. We are pinned down and need assistance now!"

Colonel Dawson's voice responded: "Commander, the Imperial Fists won't be able to respond in time, and the garrison outside has come under heavy attack from Hunters and those "Pink Horrors". Fortunately we've got Grizzlies inbound from _Spirit of Fire_, so if you can hold on down there for just a little while, they'll be able to bail you out"

"Let's hope so Colonel, we're kind of in an awkward spot here…"

-X-

On board _The Spirit of Fire, _Colonel Dawson gave the order for the Grizzlies to depart and make their way to the ruins as fast as they could. Watching the events unfold on Arcadia's surface, Serina quipped: "Ah, the Grizzly Tanks. Something of a pet project of Sergeant Forge I believe. Fitting they're being used here then no?"

"I suppose" Colonel Dawson replied simply before adding: "Let's just hope they get to Commander Donald and Doctor Anders in time"

-X-

On board Lord Bale's cruiser, Sindri showed him the progress reports of the battle that had just erupted on Arcadia's surface. "My Stealth Elites and Grunts have already infiltrated the ruins and engaged the Eldar and Space Marines there. It is only a matter of time before they're overwhelmed and the relic is seized"

Bale snarled in response to this. "The Arbiter tells me that the humans are sending reinforcements to the ruins. Your meager force won't be able to keep them back!"

"True, but they will take time to arrive. My Hunters and the minions of Lord Tzeentch will keep them occupied long enough for the Elites and Grunts in the ruins to finish the Eldar and Marines inside. Then they can secure the starmap and we may go. All will progress as it should"

"And what if your plan fails?" The Arbiter demanded. "What if the humans break past your defenses and rescue their allies inside the ruins? Or what if your forces in the ruins fail to overwhelm them? What then?"

Sindri waved the Arbiter's accusations off. "Oh, do not worry. Should my plan fail I have several contingencies in place. No matter the outcome of this little story, the Eldar and their allies, will lose. Especially since I happen to have something of an ally on the inside…"

**Author's Note: Gasp! A spy? Who could it be?**

**I've noticed I've been getting a few negative reviews lately, so I think I'm going to be going back to my older chapters and making some changes. For one thing as shown here, the UNSC is now the UNIM (United Nations Imperium of Man). This makes using the term "Space Marines" not seem redundant. I may also add some little "codex entries" so to speak for the different races and factions and such. Build up this fused together world a little better.**

**Finally, I have a request to make of my readers: for those of you who frequent TV Tropes, if any of you might make a tropes page for my crossover here, it would be much appreciated. I would do it myself, but I'd rather the trope page be written from the POV of a reader rather than the author. So if anyone could do that it would be greatly appreciated.**


	7. Arcadia

Chapter 6: Arcadia

When the Hunters came down on the Gray Knights and Salamanders, the two Space Marine chapters unleashed every grenade they had on them at the first few of the alien behemoths. The combined explosion was blinding and deafening in equal measure but the Space Marines pushed past it. Unfortunately so did the Hunters, for though their armor was damaged and blackened they still lived and unleashed blasts of eldritch flames from their cannons. The fires incinerated all they touched, with even the fine armor of the Gray Knights and Salamanders providing inadequate protection. Drawing their heaviest weapons, both Space Marine chapters opened fire on the Hunters, using rockets, shotguns, and anything else they could just to further damage the Hunter's incredibly tough armor. Finally, said armor gave way, exposing more and more of the Hunter's orange, worm-like flesh. Once this happened, the Gray Knights drew their blue swords and plunged them into the Hunter's exposed flesh, twisting their blades for extra damage. Not to be outdone, the Salamanders ducked under the Hunter's swinging shield arms and fired at them point-blank with their shotguns.

But every time a Hunter was slain, it only served to make all of the others madder, and they began to swing around even more wildly, also swatting aside Grunts and Pink Horrors that were unfortunate enough to be near them. Nevertheless, the Gray Knights and Salamanders held their ground, and managed to keep last against the Hunters long enough for the Grizzly Tanks to show up. The tanks unleashed a hailstorm of fire that cut the remaining Hunters down as the large vehicles drove up to the beleaguered Space Marines. Then they drove past them, continuing to open fire on the Hunters and other Covenant and Daemons that were still in their way.

"Support the tanks!" Shouted the Gray Knight and Salamander squad leaders. "Clear a path for them!"

The squad leaders men did as instructed, and the two Space Marine chapters unloaded a torrent of ammunition at the Grunts, Elites, and Pink Horrors that stood in the Grizzly Tanks path.  
-X-  
Inside the relic the fighting had intensified, as somehow more Elites and Grunts had managed to get inside and open fire on the handful of Eldar and humans within. Macha and her fellow Farseers continued to devastate the Covenant's ranks with powerful bolts of lightning and other Eldar magics, while Donald and Alexander provided support fire.

"Really hoping those tanks show up soon..." Donald muttered. "We're running low on ammunition..."

"I don't know, I think we're holding out pretty well here..."

Then a few more Elites decloaked, and they were different from the others. They were a bit bigger for one thing, and when they appeared the other Elites and Grunts looked up at them with awe. In contrast to other Elite's sky blue armor decorated with random pink stripes, these Elites armor was ebony black with a golden trim. Many of them also had long horns on their heads, as well as hands that were in the form of either large talons or pincers. Some of them even had medium to large sized bat-wings on their backs.

"What the hell are those things?" Alexander gasped.

"Elite Zealots, the children of Chaos Undivided. They are the most deadly Covenant of all..."

Ellen Anders turned to Alexander: "You ever hear of "tempting fate"?"

"KILL THEM!" shouted one of the Elite Zealots and the other Covenant let out a terrifying bellow of acknowledgement. Given a massive boost in morale by the arrival of the Zealots, the other Elites and Grunts surged forward with greater determination, with some Elites even managing to power through the Eldar's crippling lightning for a little longer than usual. The Plasma fire of the Covenant's weapons eas unleashed at a much more fearsome rate, and Grunts began to hurl Plasma Grenades in what soon became a hailstorm of the glowing blue balls of explosive energy. As explosions of blue fire rang around their ears nonstop, the humans and Eldar continued to unleash lightning, bullets, grenades, and shuriken at their enemies as they waited for the promised reinforcements to arrive...  
-X-  
"SINDRI!" Lord Bale roared. "The humans tanks are destroying our Hunters! We can't keep them back for much longer! Soon they will be at the ruins! Your plan is a disaster!"

"Calm yourself Lord Bale" Sindri said in his usual unfazed and coldly civil tone. "I told you that I had contingency plans in place should something like this occur. Do not worry. I have sent additional Elites to seize the relic while the humans and Eldar are distracted by the main force. They will read the relic's contents and then report back to us. For you see we do not truly _**need **_the relic itself, only the information it contains. My Zealots will acquire that information"

Lord Bale scoffed and snarled in response to this. "For your sake I hope your right!"  
-X-  
After blasting apart the last of the Hunters and the Pink Horrors, the Grizzly Tanks parked themselves up to the front of the ruins. Without anymore resistance to keep them from reaching the relics, the Gray Knights and Salamanders were all set to move in and retrieve their commanders and Doctor Anders, but the next thing they knew Covenant ships were flying in and raining plasma fire down on them. Taking cover quickly, the Gray Knights and Salamanders only made a dash for the ruins after the Grizzly tanks opened fire on the Banshees, which provided enough of a distraction for the Space Marines to move in. But the Banshees expertly avoided the Grizzly tanks gunfire and replied with withering plasma fire that steadily chipped away at the tanks armor. Then one got hit with a blast of green energy from another Banshee and burst into flames, pieces of blackened scrap metal flying everywhere. As this happened, the Gray Knights and Salamanders navigated the ruins hallways until at last they came to the site of the relic, now a warzone littered with the bodies of dead Covenant soldiers. Joining the fray, the Gray Knights and Salamanders opened fire with shots from Assault Rifles, Battle Rifles, and DMRs. Caught off-guard by the unexpected attack from the rear, the remaining Covenant forces were quickly routed, with even the Zealots finally managing to go down, save for two that fled once they saw the tide of the battle turn against them.

"That's right, run you bastards!" one of the Salamanders hollered at the Zealots as they activated their stealth fields and disappeared.

"Well that was a little touch and go..." Donald observed. "Its a good thing you all showed up when you did. We were all starting to run low on ammo. Of course with these Eldar Farseers and their powers, who knows how much longer we could have lasted..."

"Our power was waning too human" Mahca said before turning to the Salamanders and Gray Knights. "Thank you. We appreciate your coming to our aid"

Macha then turned back to Donald, Alexander, and Ellen Anders. "Come, we need to leave this place now. As long as we are here this planet is not safe from the Covenant. Besides, that relic told us where we need to go next"

"What are you talking about?" Donald asked.

"The relic pointed in the direction of a place called a "Shield-World". It is one of the installations left behind by the Forerunners and it is not something we want the forces of Chaos getting their wretched claws on. So we must go to that Shield World with all speed. I believe it was called "Eden" in the data I accessed.

"Eden? You mean like the Garden of Eden?"

"I do not know what that is"

Alexander rolled his eyes underneath his helmet. "Of course you don't..."

"What is it about the Shield Worlds that makes them so dangerous?" Donald asked.

"They were the places our ancestors made their final stand. There could be all sorts of Forerunner technology there that we cannot allow the Four Powers and the Covenant to acquire. That and just the thought of them desecrating our ancestors homes with their unholy footsteps sickens me to the core. So we must get to Eden as fast as we can."  
-X-  
"There, you see Lord Bale?" Sindri said as he proudly showed off the stolen information on Eden and its location. "I told you my plans would succeed. The Zealots retrieved the necessary information and now that we have it there's no need to waste time and resources seizing the relic itself. We may now send our fleet to this "Eden" and claim it for the Four Powers"

Lord Bale snarled. "All right Sindri, you have been fortunate in this scenario. But I am still not fully convinced. Set a course for Eden and I will decide how we proceed from there. Time will tell if you're fortunes continue or not"

"Of course Lord Bale. But I am quite confident that in time you'll see that I am right as always"

The Arbiter growled. "You presume too much human"

Sindri turned to him. "I am sorry Arbiter, did I _offend_ you in some manner? My most _sincere _apologies. I was simply stating fact is all"

The Arbiter growled again. How he desperately wanted to punt Sindri into the nearest sun. But so long as the Chaos Sorcerer remained even partially in Lord Bale's good graces the Arbiter would have to stay his killing hand, which was something he always hated doing. Patience, temperance, or any form of subtlety for that matter were never his strong suits, and it was part of the reason he was now the Arbiter. But it didn't matter. He knew Sindri would only be able to keep Lord Bale's infamous temper and fury at bay for so long going about things as he did, and when he inevitably screwed up in some way or another, the Arbiter would be there, to cut him to ribbons with his dual energy swords and mount his helmeted head on his wall.

Ripa 'Moramee smiled at the very thought.

-X-

"Leaving so soon?" Sergeant Forge asked Alexander.

"Maybe" the Salamander Captain replied. "Commander Donald and Colonel Dawson are talking to the Admiralty Board right now. Since the Covenant seem to have gotten what they came here for there's no reason to stand guard over the ruins anymore, and that it would be a better use of _Spirit of Fire's _resources to go after the Covenant fleet and keep them from seizing whatever weapons and technology there is on the Shield-World."

"Do you think the Admiralty Board will agree?"

"I think so, yes" Alexander said. "At least enough of them to win the vote anyway. And honestly I agree with Donald and Dawson's rationale. Not to mention that I'd much rather be off taking the fight to those Covenant bastards then just doing guard duty"

"I can definitely empathize with that brother" Sergeant Forge said. "I hate just standing around doing nothing when I know those xenos are out there killing people. Makes my blood boil"

As Sergeant Forge said this, Commander Donald came over to Alexander and Sergeant Forge.

"Any news on the verdict?" Alexander asked.

Donald nodded. "Yes. The Admiralty Board has agreed with Colonel Dawson and given us the green light"

"Excellent. Time to hunt some Covenant!"

"Congratulations" Sergeant Forge said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go talk to my captain…"

-X-

As _The Spirit of Fire _was getting ready to take off, it received an unexpected arrival in the form of Doctor Ellen Anders, who upon getting on the ship made clear her intentions: "I'm coming with you. If you're going to more structures like this one you could use a scientist on your ship, and I'm the best one you're going to find who's not a part of ONI"

"…can't argue with that logic. Alright Doctor Anders, you're on board. Welcome to _The Spirit of Fire._"

And mere moments after Doctor Anders made clear her intentions to be a part of _The Spirit of Fire's _adventure, the crew got yet more visitors, this time in the form of Captain Darnath Lysander, Sergeant John Forge, and several other Imperial Fists.

"Sergeant Forge has requested that he and the Imperial Fists under his command come with you on your little adventure. I've decided to humor him, since I know how much the boy wants to be out fighting the Covenant. He's a good soldier, as are his men. Use them well, and please bring at least a few of them back alive"

Donald nodded. "I'll do my best Captain"

"That's all I ask"

"Well, between the Doctor and now a whole squad of Imperial Fists I'd say _The Spirit of Fire _is getting quite a bit of attention" Serina observed in her usual snarky manner before adding: "Wouldn't you agree colonel?"

Colonel Dawson nodded. "Yeah, but we can use the extra help. I think as you and I both know by this point, when going up against the Covenant, the more the merrier"

"Cliched but true." Serina said with a nod. "I just hope we can hold them all"

Colonel Dawson shook his head at the Smart AI's sarcasm before giving the order to follow the Eldar ships on their path to the Shield-World. So began the race to get to Eden before the Covenant, or failing that, to drive them off the Shield World. Little did any of the players in this story know that they'd all be getting a lot more than they bargained for.

**Author's Note: I know, I know, its a short chapter. Don't worry, the next one should be at least a little bit longer. **


	8. Shield World

Chapter 7: Shield World

When the Warp tunnel opened up, the ships of Lord Bale's fleet were greeted to a brown, green, and blue planet that featured several holes drilled into the surface. Clouds danced around other parts of the surface, mountains and jungles decorated the orb's landscape and in all it was fairly scenic. But the Forces of Chaos have no appreciation for the beauties of nature. The power and secrets held on the planet on the other hand...

"There it is Lord Bale" Sindri said breathlessly. "There's our Shield World."

"And those are our ships means of entry" The Arbiter observed, pointing to the holes in the planet.

"I will concede that you have done well _**this **_time Sindri" Lord Bale said. "Come, let us enter and claim our prize"

"Actually Lord Bale, might I suggest that we have our ships cloak themselves and set up an ambush? The UNIM and Eldar forces are undoubtedly on their way here as we speak, and I believe that if it appears to them that they beat us to the Shield World we will be able to spring a trap that could wipe most or all of them out in one fell swoop"

Lord Bale snarled. "I detest hiding. And how can we be sure that the humans and the Eldar are coming?"

"Oh they are, trust me. The Eldar's Farseers undoubtedly read the relic's contents same as my Zealots, and will be determined to keep us from setting foot on the Shield World. I recommend we go with my plan"

Lord Bale seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding. "Very well Sindri. Because you've done well so far, I shall allow you to go through with your latest scheme. But I want to see the Eldar and human ships obliterated when they show up!"

"Of course Lord Bale, do not fret. The pitiful fools will never know what hit them until it is far too late…"

-X-

When _The Spirit of Fire _at last came out of Slipspace, they found that the Eldar vessels were already waiting for them in orbit over the Shield-World.

"There you are" came Eldrad Ulthran's voice from his vessel.

"We were beginning to wonder if you were going to make it". Macha said from on board the same vessel.

Eldrad turned to her. "Remember Macha, their vessels do not use the Warp, and though it keeps them relatively safe from the corrupting powers and influence of Chaos it also makes their crude excuses for ships a great deal slower…"

"Less speed for less risk" Macha summed up. "Personally, I find that to be a reasonable trade on the human's part"

"So…" Colonel Dawson said through the comm. channels as he looked out at the Shield-World. "…this is Eden?"

"Yes. Our scanners are not detecting any life on the Shield-World, and what's more, the Forces of Chaos do not appear to have gotten here yet…"

But as Eldrad said this, the ships of Lord Bale's fleet deactivated their cloaking devices and opened fire on the Eldar vessels. One of them was destroyed in a matter of moments, exploding in a brilliant, bright explosion of multi-colored fire that the oxygen-less vacuum of space snuffed out as quickly and mercilessly as the Covenant had the Eldar lives on board the vessel.

"It's a trap!" Macha shouted in horror. "Those damned Covenant…curse them to the pits of_** hell**_"

"There will be time for revenge later" Eldrad said as his and Macha's vessel began to take a vicious pounding as well. "We need to get into the Shield World, now!"

"Understood" Macha said before giving out the order: "Attention all Eldar vessels! Retreat to the Shield World! I repeat, retreat to the Shield-World!"

The other three Eldar vessels attempted to do as instructed, but they were hit hard by the Covenant ship's plasma cannons, and another Eldar ship was blown to pieces before it could reach the safety of the massive tunnels built into the Shield World. Yet another sacrificed itself so Eldrad and Mahcha's ship could get through safely. That just left one other Eldar vessel plus _The Spirit of Fire. _Plasma cannons rained down on the two ships mercilessly, with whole chunks of both vessels being blasted off. As both ships threatened to be utterly destroyed, Eldrad and Macha's ship turned around and provided covering fire long enough for both to get through the tunnels with them, the vibrant arsenal streaking through the blackness of space at the ships of Lord Bale's fleet. The three vessels then retreated deeper and deeper into the Shield World's cavernous depths and labyrinthine tunnels in a desperate attempt to escape the merciless wrath of the Covenant.

-X-

On board his vessel, Lord Bale was livid. "SINDRI! Three of the enemies' vessels escaped! _**THREE**_!"

"Yes, but another three were destroyed. So the enemy is now down to half strength. And not to mention that two of the three remaining vessels are badly damaged, and will not be able to take much more of our ships plasma cannons before being destroyed completely. That just leaves one Eldar vessel, and no single one of their ships could ever possibly hope to stand up to _**your **_fleet's power"

"Flattery will _**not**_ save you Sindri" Lord Bale snarled through his mandibles. The Elite Zealot was all set to pop a blood vessel, and also considered having the Arbiter gut Sindri for his impudence. But then he relaxed himself a little and said in a marginally calmer tone: "Tell the fleet to follow those human and Eldar vermin through the tunnels. I want them all found and obliterated as soon as possible!"

-X-

When _The Spirit of Fire _and the two remaining Eldar ships at last came out of the tunnels and into the Shield World, they were greeted with a lush jungle that stretched on for miles as far as the eye could see. The impressive sight reminded the humans of the remaining rainforests back on Earth, though notably there were no animals of any kind.

"Quite the sight huh Donald?" Alexander asked as both continued to stare out at the sea of green in front of them.

Donald nodded. "Yes, its quite scenic" he agreed.

"Well, we're not here to enjoy the view" Colonel Dawson pointed out. "Our ship's trailing fire and we need to find a place to lie low and make repairs."

"This jungle's pretty dense" Donald observed. "…but I'm not sure we'd be able to hide a ship as big as _The Spirit of Fire _here…"

"Well we'll have to set her down soon either way" Alexander pointed out. "May as well do it in the jungles…"

"I agree" Colonel Dawson said. "Helmsman, set her down in the densest patch of jungle you can find"

As _The Spirit of Fire _began to descend into the lush jungles and vanish beneath the tree-tops, the two remaining Eldar vessels landed as well, and in mere moments engineers were hard at work on repairs. While they did this, the Farseers left the ships to discuss their next move.

"Well, we made it to Eden" Macha observed. "Unfortunate that the wretched Covenant beat us here…"

"We can still salvage the situation" another Farseer pointed out. "These jungles are large and go on for miles. Our scouts can easily hide here and decimate any Covenant patrols that come their way"

"That won't work once they send in Hunters and Vehicles." Eldrad interceded. "No, I believe we need to keep moving until we find the Forerunner ruins on this Shield World where we can better reinforce our position"

"But it could me miles away" Macha pointed out. "We'll have to abandon our ships"

"No. We will wait until our vessels have undergone sufficient repairs and then we will search for ruins from which we can better defend ourselves. In the meantime, I am going to go talk to the humans and work out a strategy with them. We all need to be, as the humans are fond of saying: "On the same page here"

-X-

"Any good news?" Eldrad asked Colonel Dawson upon making it to the _Spirit of Fire's _bridge.

Colonel Dawson shook his head. "No. Our ship got banged up about as badly as yours did. It will be a while before she's ready to take off again."

"You must hurry with your repairs. The Covenant will be sending search parties after us, so we cannot linger. As this is a Shield-World there will undoubtedly be Forerunner ruins somewhere on this planet that we can hole up in until our ships are fully repaired"

"What makes you so certain that the Forerunner's base on this world will provide adequate protection?" Ellen Anders asked.

"I would think a fortress would be preferable to a forest." Eldrad said in a deadpan before adding: "The Forerunners warred with the armies of Chaos for three centuries. They knew how to resist them in mind, body, and soul. And their armor defenses were lightyears ahead of anything that your race or mine has ever conceived of."

"Fair enough, but all of that doesn't change the fact that _The Spirit of Fire's _still not going anywhere for a while."

"As I have already said, you must make your repairs quickly. The Covenant will be here very soon. In fact, they are likely sending patrols down into the jungles after us as we speak…"

-X-

Thel Vadamee' led one of the small armies of Covenant soldiers that had been sent to the Shield World's surface to look for the humans and Eldar forces that had retreated there. Thel's group was patrolling the northern fringe of the forest, while Rtas 'Vadumee's force went in from the southern mouth of the jungle. Between the two of them they hoped to trap the humans and Eldar on both sides, then gut them all while their ships were still recovering from the damage they had sustained from being ambushed earlier.

Thel kept his energy sword handle securely fastened at his hip, with a plasma rifle on his other hip and a Covenant Carbine in his hands. As a Zealot, Thel Vadamee' represented a Sangheili who was a servant of Chaos Undivided, bound to not one of the Four Powers but rather their combined might and glory manifested in pure debauchery and destruction.

A Sangheili servant of Tzeentch came down on his jetpack and approached Thel. He bowed in respect to the Zealot before giving his report: "My scouts have searched for miles, but the humans and Eldar have used the jungles well. We have still not located them through the tree-tops."

"Keep searching" Thel replied coldly. "The vermin cannot hide from us forever. Once you locate them, send out a signal and wait for us. Your rangers alone will be no match for the combined might of the humans and Eldar forces."

The Sangheili devotee of the Lord of Change bowed respectfully again. "As you wish herald of Chaos Undivided"

-X-

While the _Spirit of Fire _and Eldar vessels continued to undergo repairs, Eldrad and Macha took it upon themselves to lead a small group of Eldar scouts to move ahead of the main force and start looking for any sign of the Shield World's Forerunner installation. Accompanying them were Ellen Anders and Sergeant Forge's Imperial Fists squad.

"Do you see anything brother?" Macha asked the head Eldar Scout.

The head scout shook his head. "No. I see and hear nothing. I cannot _smell_ the taint of Chaos either, so I am confident that we are safe for the moment"

"I didn't take you guys for having a sense of humor" Sergeant Forge quipped.

"It wasn't a joke"

As the group of humans and Eldar continued trudge through the mess of trees and undergrowth, armored boots plunging into the mud and leaves of the forest floor again and again, Eldrad and Macha used their psychic senses to scan the entirety of the jungle, but detected nothing for miles. Then after a few miles they sensed the oppressive evil of the Four Powers servants, like swimming in a vast ocean only to suddenly swallow a mouthful of bitter saltwater.

"The Covenant have sent scouting parties." Macha said to the other Eldar and humans. "They're combing through the jungles looking for us right now"

"Where are they?" Sergeant Forge asked.

"At the other end of the jungle" Eldrad replied. "There's another group far, far behind us. We're safe for right now, but expect a few firefights soon enough."

"Should we double back to the ships?" Ellen Anders asked.

Eldrad shook his head. "No, not yet. The Covenant scouting parties are a ways away from both us and our ships, so we can afford to be here a little longer. I wish to continue searching for the Forerunner ruins. Once the Covenant forces do find us, it will only be a matter of time before the rest of their army comes after us, at which point we'll want to be in the most defensible position possible. That would be the Forerunner ruins"

"You've got a hell of a lot of faith in something we don't even know is here" Sergeant Forge pointed out.

"Don't be an ignoramus. Every Shield World would have bases and other fortifications built on it. And those bases and fortifications held for nearly three hundred years against the Four Powers. They will be able to serve us well too"

And with this counterargument, Eldrad and his fellow Eldar pressed on, and their human allies followed right behind. They didn't walk that much farther though before coming upon something else in a clearing.

Lying there were piles of half-destroyed metals and structures that were now mostly gone, with only just enough remaining for the humans and Eldar to realize that they were in fact ruins of a structure. Not only that, but many of the nearby trees were dead, with black ash all over the clearing. This in turn caused the humans and Eldar to realize that the clearing was as big as it was because of whatever it was that had reduced so many trees to dust and splinters.

Eldrad observed both the ruins and the devastated chunk of the forest grimly. What he was seeing was not the work of plasma fire. Where that left scorch marks, here the rubble was missing entire chunks, as if a large knife had just cut pieces of the struck metal off, leaving behind large gaping holes. As for the trees, there was nothing left in many cases, not even a stump. The only reason Eldrad thought that there had even been trees was because of the ash where the trees had once stood. Everything had been disintegrated.

"What do you suppose did this?" Sergeant Forge asked Ellen Anders.

"Why are you asking me?"

"I can tell you both that the Covenant were not responsible for this, not unless Hunters or a Lord of Change had been through here. And even they can not leave neat gaping holes in pieces of structure like this. No, whatever did this has weaponry capable of disintegration."

"What kind of things would have weapons like that?"

"I do not know. Only that I do not wish to test myself against such foes"

The group advanced a bit further through the jungle but as they did, they saw more and more trees that had been reduced to ash much the same way the ones behind them had. All around them entire patches of forest had been reduced to nothing. Even the soil in the ground was devoid of nutrients and black as coal.

Then, moving further a little more the group saw a Grunt.

The little alien shrieked in terror upon seeing the small army of humans and Eldar and made a run for it. A single shot to the head from an Imperial Fists' DMR killed it. Unfortunately, this attracted the attention of its fellows, and out of the jungle a squad of Elites and Grunts de-cloaked and opened fire at the grouping of Eldar and humans. Mere moments later they were all cut to ribbons by the combined firepower of the Eldar Farseers and Imperial Fists.

"Well that was easy enough" Sergeant Forge observed as the last Elite's bullet-ridden body fell to the muddy ground.

"Don't get used to it human" Macha said. "That was but a scouting party. The Covenant are on to us now"

As Macha said this, Eldrad continued to observe the dead ground and disintegrated trees. And the longer he looked at it all the grimmer he became.

"…this isn't good. Whatever did this possess weapons the Eldar have never seen before. I can't sense anything with my telepathy but my intuitions seldom lie. There is something wrong about this place, something dangerous. We must keep moving"

Sergeant Forge shook his head. "No. Either we stay here in the dense jungle were we can easily defend ourselves or we double-back to the ships. If what you said about the Covenant forces closing in is true, the ones at the southern half of the forest could be there any minute now"

"The Covenant forces won't be there for a while, we still have time"

"Then we should stay here. Past all of these dead trees the jungle's pretty dense. If the Covenant find us, we'll have the best chance here."

"Not if they send in Hunters you won't. And in any event it is not the Covenant here that worries me. At least not as much as whatever it is that dwells here. And something _**does **_dwell here. Something destroyed this entire area, and whatever it was destroyed it so utterly there's almost nothing left. I don't fancy taking my chances against something like that"

"What if you're wrong?" Sergeant Forge countered. "No offense man, but I'd take common sense over a "hunch" any day".

"…alright, that does it. I'm done debating with you"

And as he said this, Eldrad stormed off in a huff, catching the attention of the others.

"Hey, where are you going?" Ellen Anders called out to him.

"I'm going to seek company with the only person here who's got any sense" Eldrad replied angrily. "..._**me**_!" Then, grumbling as he continued to march away from everyone else: "I've had enough of _Mong-Ki _for one day..."

-X-

"Sergeant Forge and Doctor Anders have been gone with the Eldar for a while now…" Colonel Dawson said. "Truth be told I'm starting to get a little worried. Do you think we should call in and see where they are?"

"All due respect colonel, but I believe they can handle themselves."

"I suppose" Colonel Dawson conceded "but still. We don't know a whole lot about this place and I don't like the idea of them going out into the unknown for an extended period of time. Call it paranoia, or maybe fear of the unknown"

"…I'm pretty sure those two things go together colonel"

"Either way, you'll forgive me for wanting to check. Try and contact them"

"Yes Colonel"

-X-

"Something's wrong" Macha said, her normally calm and stoic voice taking on a slight edge of urgency. Almost panic to the ears of Sergeant Forge.

"You mean besides the fact that your touchy boss just got up and left us here?"

"Eldrad Ulthran is the chief of the Farseers" Macha said harshly. "You will treat him with respect at all times or I will teach respect to you. But no, it is not Chief Farseer Eldrad's absence that is worrying me. Its…something else."

As the words left Macha's mouth, the air around the group twisted and distorted, until soon the humans and Eldar found themselves surrounded by a large number of lithe, black armored humanoids, with those that did not cover their faces with black bullet-shaped helmets having skin that was ghostly white and hair an orange red and fastened into a pony-tail. The guns they held in their hands did not look like any the humans had ever seen before and some had a curving hook-like bayonet attached to them, which also adorned the shoulder pauldrons of some of the soldiers.

"Heretics…" Macha hissed under her breath.

"What?"

"Heretics. Traitors. Servants of the Prince of Pleasure and his depravities. They are monsters without hope of salvation"

"Now, now" one of the Dark Eldar said. "Is that any way to treat family?"

**Author's Note: This chapter and the next one or two will be my last ones for a while. I have other projects I'd like to work on and frankly I've been getting one too many harsh reviews for my tastes. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate feedback, but once someone drops an F-bomb that should generally tell you something. So I'll be taking a break from this story after this chapter and the next. Sorry to those of you who have been enjoying it so far, but don't worry, I will continue this one day…just not for a while.**


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